I'M OVER YOU
by AlexisPetrova
Summary: Set tree years ahead of the events occurred in 'The Departed'. Contains spoilers of 3x22. Damon left town immediately after he spoke to Elena and made sure she was alive and okay. After his departure, Elena falls into a big depression no one can help her off of. One morning she gets the best news she could get: "DAMON IS COMING BACK" Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do **_**not**_** own The Vampire Diaries. Although I'd wish I owned Ian Somerhalder, I don't. All rights go to their rightful owners.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

MYSTIC FALLS, 2015

**Elena's POV**

"Damon is coming back" was the only thing running through Elena Gilbert's mind. Ever since Stefan had articulated those four little words, she had been incapable of shaking them off of her mind. She couldn't believe that after three years of his leaving, she would finally get to see him again. After nights of endlessly crying, and sobbing, she would get to see the blue eyed vampire that was the main object of most of her dreams. –And nightmares- a tiny voice added, inside her head.

At first she had found it hard to believe that those words, coming out of Stefan's mouth, were true. She refused to have hope. As time had taught her over and over again that hope was a heartless bitch.

Since Damon's departure, she had hoped every single day that he would materialize at her door step and somehow he would apologize for breaking his promise. 'I will never leave you again' Elena scoffed as Damon's voice resounded for the billionth time.

During Damon's long absence, things had changed. For one, she had chosen to complete the transition into something she never wanted to become. Now, she was a creature of the night; a Princess of Darkness, as Damon would call her. Other thing that had changed was that now she was living at the Salvatore Boarding House permanently. After Jeremy decided to go to Europe to an art school, she didn't want to be alone and took Stefan up on his offer to move in. The last and most important thing that had changed was that her and Stefan's relationship had come to an end.

Nobody knew the reason as to why the most solid romance of the whole little town of Mystic Falls, VA had ended. There were many speculations but nobody knew for sure the real reasons that had driven them to make the decision to finalize their three-year relationship. Not even Caroline, whom had been insisting on been let in in the couple's trouble, knew the real reason to why they had broken up. Of course she had her suspicions, and they had a name. It started with 'D', and ended with 'amon'. She thought that even from afar, he had managed to come in between the love story she saw as epic. She had asked Elena nonstop, but she hadn't budged one little bit, and left her in the dark.

But of course Caroline was right.

Elena had never been the same ever since that fateful night of May 10th, 2012.

* * *

-_FLASHBACK-_

_Elena didn't know why exactly she was lying on a cold metal bed. She didn't remember much of what had happened, but what she did remember was she dying. How was it possible that she was now gasping on a cold metal door in God only knows where?_

_Bit by bit, it was coming to her mind the previous events of the night. She remembered that Jeremy and Matt had slipped some kind of drug on her tea so they could drag her out of Mystic Falls and away from Evilaric. Then she remembered Matt telling her that Evilaric had succeeded in finding desiccated Klaus's body and had staked him. Putting at risk the lives of all the vampires she knew and loved._

_He mind kept remembering things and the next thing she remembered was Matt asking her whether he should keep driving and take her to Damon, who was 100 miles away, or turn around and take her to Stefan and everyone else she knew. She could remember how hard the decision had been, and how painful. She knew that the moment she chose one brother, she would lose the other. But what she hadn't been counting on was that she would be losing _both of them._ Along with best friend, and always-acquainted-but-just-recently-friend, Tyler Lockwood. That was four more names to add to her very long list of lost loved ones._

_At the end, she made the easiest choice. She took her cell phone and typed the number she knew by heart then. Damon answered at the second ring._

_'Let me guess, calling to see if the Grim Reaper's paid a visit?' Damon's sarcastic tone appeared at the other end of the line._

_'How are you feeling? Are there any symptoms?' she asked really worried about him. She really didn't want him to have to go through all of this alone, but she couldn't do the same to Stefan, either. She felt that she owed him. For what he had been through to come back to her. It was true that at first, he was reluctant about their status, but then he proved that somewhat they could go back to what they were before he left with Klaus. She also felt in debt with him because he had left with Klaus to save Damon, and it wasn't right that she left him for that brother, whom he sacrificed everything, including himself, over. Then they had proved that he could still be that sweet Stefan she had fallen in love with, and she felt like they owed it to themselves to try it out, at least once. So, she could say 'at least we tried' even if it didn't work out._

_'Not yet. But I'm sure we'll have a laugh when we find out that Klaus is a big, fat liar' Damon tried to make a joke out of it, but she could detect the undertone of his fear. He wasn't afraid to die, per se. He was afraid to die alone._

_'Yeah, I'm – I'm sure we will'_ _Elena gulped a great amount of saliva, trying to swallow the big lump in her throat. She knew that was she was about to do would break his heart._

_'Hey, where are you?'_ _she could notice the light tone of hope in his voice. Hope that she might be going to him. Suddenly, the lump in her throat came back, with a vengeance. No amount of saliva could undo it. She took a look at Matt, willing herself to say the words that would definitely shatter his heart. She hated herself for what she was about to do. She really did. But she felt as if she had no other choice. On one side of the balance, there was Damon, and his consuming, yet scaring love for her; and on the other there was Stefan and his always safe and welcoming love. Add Caroline, Tyler, and everyone she knew to that side of the balance and it would clearly overweight the other one. With a last blink, trying to keep her tears at bay, she finally managed to get the words out and through her throat's lump._

_'Matt's taking me home' she could practically hear his hear shattering into a million pieces and she couldn't help that a half of her own heart was breaking along with his. In that moment, it was as if she could feel Damon's pain being radiated through the phone. It was so sharp that she could feel it cutting through her like a billion blades, all at once. And all aimed to the same target, the half of heart. Which was racing so fast due to the intense pain she felt. She wanted to scream, to twist, anything that would stop this agonizing pain she was feeling. But what she wanted to do most was take a knife and pull out the half that belonged to Damon. The half that was burning in agony inside her chest, while she sat still, unable to do anything to stop that torture. She knew she deserved to feel that pain, and all the pain in the world, for what she had just done; breaking Damon Salvatore's heart. She knew that no amount of pain she was feeling could ever compare to the one _he_ was feeling. For the first time in over a century and a half, he had let himself feel for someone other than himself. And he had handed his [fragile] heart on a silver platter. Just to have it thrown back at him, by another girl that had chosen his brother over him, for the second time._

_'To Stefan'_ _it wasn't even a question, it was a statement. It was incredible the impossible amount of pain that just those lone words contained within themselves. His voice was heartbroken, but resigned; and it held all the sadness and pain in the world._

_'Not just to Stefan, Damon. To Tyler, to Caroline…' she let it trail off, because quite frankly she couldn't even find the strength within herself to make any more excuses._

_'Ah, I know, I get. So, since I'm possibly a dead man, can I ask you a question?'_ _as usual he tried to hide his pain, but Elena could see right through it. However, she chose not to comment._

_'Yeah, of course' she tried to give laugh, just to lighten the mood a little, but her voice shook and the effort was useless._

_'If it was just down to him and me and you had to make a choice who got the goodbye, who would it be?'_ _Elena knew that if her previous words hadn't broken his heart enough, the next one would definitely kill him. She chokes up, but tried to find her voice, nonetheless._

_'I love him, Damon. He came into my life at a time when I needed someone and I fell for him instantly. No matter what I feel for you, I-I never unfell for him' once again her voice shook, due to the pain she knew she was inflicting in Damon._

* * *

**Damon's POV**

_Damon never thought that pain like this existed. He didn't think one could endure a burning torture like the one she was feeling. And all because of just an eighteen-year-old human girl. He had never felt anything similar to this all-consuming pain. Not when he thought that Katherine had been actually killed in the church in 1864. Not when he found out that she wasn't in the tomb he had spent so many years trying to get her out of. Not when Anna told him that Katherine had known where he was all along and that she just didn't care. Not even when she told him that she had never loved him, and that it was always Stefan. Hell, it wasn't remotely close to this, even when Elena herself said that she loved Stefan and that it would always be Stefan, after he had forced his mouth on hers. No. All those painful memories were like a little pond, compared to the Pacific Ocean that was this agonizing pain. It felt even worse than swimming in vervain. He figured that ripping his body apart would probably hurt less than this agony. The only pain that had ever come remotely close to this was when his beloved mother had died. She was the only person that had ever loved him unconditionally. But like every good thing in his life, he had lost her because of his brother. Somehow, he always lost anything good that had ever happen, either to his brother, or because of him._

_But what had definitely killed him were the last words that had come out of Elena's mouth:_ _'I love him, Damon. He came into my life at a time when I needed someone and I fell for him instantly. No matter what I feel for you, I-I never unfell for him' those were definitely the ending of his existence. He didn't know where he got the strength form to say the next words. But he could get them out._

_'Yeah, I get it. Stefan…It's always gonna be Stefan'_ _Damon said this in a defeated tone. Because truth be told, he didn't have the energy to keep up with this conversation. At least not after Elena ad killed him with his words. He heard Elena sobbing at the other end of the line, and he wanted nothing more than to reach through the phone to her and embrace her in his arms, and never let go. He couldn't do that, though. For one, she had chosen his brother over him. For two, she was being taken back to that hellhole, a.k.a. Mystic Falls, where her epic love was. And for three, his pride would never let him. Not after she decided to leave him to die alone._

_'I can't think about always. All I can think about is right now. And I care about you, Damon. Which is why I have to let you go' Elena was now crying freely, he could hear her tears hitting the denim of her jeans. 'I mean maybe have you and I met first…' she let her sentence trail off. 'If only she knew' Damon thought. He was tempted to tell her that they _did_ actually meet first, but decided against it. It was bullshit, and they both knew it. Just a way to soften the blow and make it a little less painful. But Damon knew that if he told her, it would change absolutely nothing. So, he went along with her._

_'Yeah, maybe'_ _he didn't say anything else._

_'You're gonna be fine. You hear me? You're gonna be okay and I'm gonna see you soon' her voice strengthened. But it still seemed like she was trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him._

_Damon hears a noise behind him and turned around. He found his former-best-friend-recently-turned-into-the-ultimate-hunter. He knew that _now_ would be even harder to go through with Elena's little promise. He lifts his phone to his ear and said what might be the last words he'd utter to her, and to anyone, besides Evilaric._

_'Real soon. Goodbye, Elena' Damon hung up._

_-FLASHBACK-_

* * *

**PRESENT TIME**

As Damon had promised, they _did_ see each other again. But what she didn't know was that it was just for Damon to say Goodbye.

During their phone conversation, she didn't fully understand the meaning behind that _goodbye _he said before hanging up. But she would come to understand it the next day, when she'd see him again.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**Damon's POV**

* * *

-_FLASHBACK-_

_Pain. At this moment, it was all Damon could feel; excruciating and unbearable pain. It started at the very center of his heart, radiating through it, and to every nerve ending he had throughout his entire body. This pain was nothing compared to any other he had felt before. If he had thought that Elena choosing his brother over him, and leaving him to die alone, had been the most excruciating pain ever; _this, _right now was at least ten times worse. Because, when Elena chose to go back to Stefan, he was sure that he, at some point, would get to see her again. But now, as he saw Ric's body turning grey, and those sickening veins bulging everywhere. He was sure that he would not._

_He refused to believe what his mind was screaming at him. No. He refused to believe that all he had done to protect the woman he loved, had, in the end, been useless._

_He felt as if the agonizing pain in his chest would swallow him whole. He would have done everything he possessed, for something to stop this torture. Throughout his very long existence, both as a human and as a vampire, he had endured many different kind of pain. From his father hitting him with anything he could get his hands on, as a human. To having been drowned in vervain, staked, stabbed, decapitated, and once having been starved to desiccation. But nothing; not even all of the above put together could sum up to the excruciating and tormenting pain he was going through right in that moment._

_It felt like the only way he could placate it was by pulling out the source of his torment. His heart. But he wouldn't. At least not until he had seen her dead body with his own eyes, and convinced himself that she was really de-. He couldn't bring himself to even say that word. By saying it, it would become real. And he refused to believe it until he saw it himself._

_With newfound courage, he picked Ric's dead body from the ground and carried it to the car, putting it in the trunk. He walked around the car and got in the driver's seat. Then, he took off, speeding to Mystic Falls. The miles disappearing beneath the tires; but his misery increased per mile covered._

_While driving, the same image was crossing his mind: Elena, lying lifeless on a cold metal bed. The girl that had given his life a meaning, but that had also screwed him over, time and time again. He wanted nothing more than to erase her from his mind forever so he didn't have to think about her, and the heartbreak she had caused him._

_As the image passed through his head, over and over again; his foot pressed even harder on the gas pedal. He was breaking the speed limit by far, but at the moment he did not care. The only thing he cared about was getting to Mystic Falls and seeing for himself the image he refused to believe. Then, he could get the hell out of there and disappear forever._

_When he was nearing the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign; he got a text from Jeremy._

'_**She's at the hospital. In the morgue'**_

_It was short, but it was obvious that the youngest Gilbert already knew that he was on his way back home._

_He flew through Mystic Falls roads, until he finally found himself at the entrance of the ER._

"_WHERE IS SHE?" he roared at Meredith upon entrance. His torment increasing with every second passing, that he didn't know where Elena was._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

* * *

Damon shook his head, to get rid of that memory that brought him pain and nothing else; and focused on the road ahead of him. He still had quite some miles to drive before he could get to the hellhole, also known as Mystic Falls. He breathed deeply and prepared himself for what was ahead of him. He willed himself to be able to face his idiotic brother and the girl he had hurt so much over; together as a couple.

If you had asked him, a year ago how he felt about them; he would probably answer you with a bitter comeback, and said that he was over it and hated them both. But, if you looked closely –which you could never be able to, because he was so on edge that every person that'd come 10 yards near him, would end up dead-, you could have seen in his eyes the immense heartbreak the idea of them together still caused him. He would deny it with all he had, but his eyes wouldn't lie. But you could also see in his eyes the anger and bitterness he contained within himself, and all of it was aimed towards those two people.

However, if you asked him now; he, once again, would say that he was over it and that he hated them both. But the difference is that this time he'd mean it. And if you looked into his eyes, you wouldn't see heartbreak anymore. Only anger; that was, still, aimed towards the couple.

One would think that the reason for his anger was the fact that he had been second choice to his brother all over again. But in truth, it was not. Because he was, indeed, over that.

No. There were only two reasons for his anger. For one; it was the fact that he was still bitter over being left to die alone, in the hands of none other than the man that had been his only and best friend in his 172 years. And the other reason was that he felt betrayed. And he wasn't talking about not having been chosen, and having been second best to Stefan; he was used to it anyway, and it wasn't as if he was expecting something else. No. he was talking about the betrayal he felt over his brother's actions. When he was first informed of Stefan's little hero act, he had yearned to grab a stake and plunge it through his heart.

Look at where all his I'll-let-her-make-her-own-decisions bullshit had gotten him –and Elena-. Thanks to the goody-two-shoes he had for a brother, Elena was forced to become what she never wanted to be; even though, it had saved him from Evilaric. But he liked to think that he would rather have died, than to let her die. Or force vampirism on her. Not again, that is. He had learnt his lesson from the previous times he force-fed her, his blood.

He closed his eyes tightly, willing those thoughts out of his mind. Even now, after three years; he got worked up any time he'd think of that. It angered to know that Stefan had gotten off the hook so easily, while he had to go through hell and back for her to forgive him. Stefan had been easily forgiven after justifying his actions with his righteous speech of the importance of free will and all that crap that made him, _Stefan._

Damon opened his eyes and knew that his car had now crossed the town's border line. Through his rear view mirror he saw the 'You're now leaving Mystic Falls sign'; which meant he had already crossed the welcoming one. He breathed deeply, and prepared himself for what awaited for him when he'd arrived to the Boarding House.

He couldn't believe that in less than 5 minutes he would be seeing the woman that had haunted his dreams and thoughts. The woman he had needed two years to move on from. The woman he still, somehow, loved, but had been his worst nightmare.

He felt a comforting hand being placed on his tense shoulder; and he looked up to meet the warm violet eyes that had been his support for the last two years that he had been hurting and alone.

Those eyes belonged to a very good looking woman, whom was sitting aside him on the passenger's seat, and was looking at him with love filled eyes. That woman's name was Irina. Irina Kuznetsova. She had straight blond-white hair that went to the middle of her back; she had violet eyes that you could look all day into; she was about 5'8 tall, with a body to die for. In summary, she looked like a Russian model.

He and Irina had stumbled upon each other during one night drunken stupor in Russia, with him trying to drown his sorrows in vodka. She was working as a bartender in the bar he was at. They had talked, and Damon had managed to find out that she was grieving over his death boyfriend. He found their situations, somehow, similar. Although, Elena wasn't dead-_dead;_ it felt really likewise. They kept talking throughout the night and told each other their stories. He even revealed, accidentally, that he was a vampire; and it shocked him, when she told him that so was she. Yes; Irina was a very old vampire, with her 850 years.

Damon had been left fascinated by her and had come back to the bar every single day for the next week. They talked about and bonded over their mutual heartbreak; but had found friendship on their lighter talks, and late night walks through Moscow's roads.

In a matter of one month they had become the best of friends, something that was pretty rare for Damon to do. Usually, it would take him years to even let in a person, but with Irina had been as easy as breathing. Another month later into their friendship, she proposed him to travel the world together. A proposition that he hadn't said yes immediately to. But, with time he reluctantly accepted.

So, they had spent the last two years travelling and terrorizing the world together. They had gone to NYC, London, Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, Beijing, Cairo, Monte Carlo, and every city they wanted to go. It was a never ending adventure that Damon enjoyed immensely.

It wasn't until a year ago that they had proclaimed to have deeper feelings than friendship for each other. The first to notice it, was Damon; but had been reluctant to say it out loud. After all, he had already been burned twice, and he didn't want to have to go through all of that again; so he kept quiet. At least until Irina said something first. And she did. She told him that he was an amazing man and that her feelings for him ran deeper than those of friendship. Damon took this as his chance and proclaimed that he also had deeper feelings for her, but given his luck, he thought they should stay friends, at least for the moment. Irina had been disappointed to say the least but, in the end, she got where he was coming from. So, she reluctantly accepted to keep the status of their relationship as friends.

They kept being friends for quite some time, until last month, Damon told her he was ready to start a real relationship with her.

He knew that he loved her, but he couldn't say that he was _in _love with her. But he knew that he was getting there. And he also was aware that she was in love with him. More than once, he had been tempted to say it back but he didn't want to lie to her, so he waited.

He kept on driving, until he found himself parked in the Boarding House's driveway. He took a deep breath and closed his

"You're gonna be okay. _We're_ gonna be okay. As soon as we get this over with, we'll get the hell out of here faster than they can say goodbye" Irina pronounced with her Russian accent. Damon smiled at her, and nodded. But he knew that as long as Elena Gilbert was involved, it would never go as planned.

"Okay" he simply said and got out of the car, walking around it and opening her door. He extended his hand, and she took it, squeezing it a little for support.

Together they made their way to the wooden door; he knocked on it and waited for his brother to open the door.

However, who opened it, hadn't been his brother, but the girl that had broken his heart three years ago. His breath got caught in his throat at the sight of her. She was the same as she was three years ago; and he had to ask himself what he had expected. He already knew she had chosen to complete her transition.

He felt Irina tightening her hold on his hand as a kind of support, and it was what had finally shook him out of his reverie. He shook his head, and put on his usual smirk.

"Hello, _Elena"_

* * *

**Elena's POV**

No matter how ready Elena thought she was, nothing could stop the catching of her breath in her throat at the sight before her. There he was. The one that got away. The man that was the object of most of her dreams, and nightmares. The man she never expected to leave her, but he had. The man she had spent the last three years obsessing over.

'He is here. He is finally here! After three years he's come back for me; because he loves me. Because he can't be away from me, any more than I from him.' Her mind was on overdrive, conjuring up uncountable scenarios, where Damon would lift her off her feet and take her to his beloved Camaro, and they would live happily ever after.

She was shook out of her thoughts by that sexy voice she thought she remembered; but in reality, her memories never made it justice.

"Hello, _Elena"_ she almost swooned at the way her name still rolled off his tongue. But what was really her fatal shot was that arrogant smirk she thought she would never see again.

She had him in her arms before she could stop herself, squeezing him tightly, intending on never letting go, ever again. Damon's arms hung motionless at his sided; until the lifted on their own accord and wrapped awkwardly around her. She was squeezing him so tight, that it was becoming hard to breathe, so with all with strength, he grabbed her shoulders and pushed off of him.

Elena was more than a little hurt that Damon had actually pushed her off of him. Wasn't he supposed to hold on to her just as tightly as her? Wasn't he supposed to carry her bride style to his car, and then take off to live the rest of eternity together?

She had been so consumed with her fantasies that she hadn't noticed the woman figure standing next to her Damon, and whose hand was tightly grasped by one of his. Elena's heart dropped a little at this. Who was that fucking bitch, and why the fuck was Damon holding hands with her, when he should be holding _her_ hand?

"Who is this?" Elena spat through clenched teeth; when, after a minute Damon still hadn't dropped her hand.

The bitch smiled and extended her right hand, the one that wasn't holding Damon's and introduced herself.

"Hi. I'm Irina" the bitch said in a thick Russian accent. "You must be Elena. I've heard so much about you" she turned to look at Damon and her insides churned at the secret look that passed between them. But what really awoke the green eyed monster completely, was when Damon smiled down at her, one of those smile even she herself had seen very rarely. She opened her mouth to tell that whore to back the fuck off and that Damon was hers, when the bitch spoke again. "It's nice to finally meet you" the tone of her voice and the hatred in her eyes told Elena that it was anything but nice meeting her.

"Likewise" Elena responded dryly and coldly. She then turned to look at Damon, who was looking at the bitch with adoration in his eyes. She wanted to scream, she wanted to kick, but most of all, she wanted to kill that shrew. 'How dared she, set her eyes on her man?' In her mind, Elena was doing every imaginary painful thing she could think of, to that motherfucker whore. But on the outside, Elena fought with everything she had to keep her composure and not snap at that _friend _of Damon's. 'You must be delusional if you think they are_friends'_ her unconscious snapped at her. Elena took a deep breath and tried to relax her tense muscles. "Who is _she, _Damon?" she asked like the pronoun 'she' was poisonous. If they were more than friends, she wanted to hear so, from Damon's mouth. Even though she knew it was coming, his next words shattered her heart. Just as she was sure, her choice had broken his, three years ago.

"She's Irina; and she is my girlfriend"

In that moment, Elena's world came crashing down.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**General POV**

When they'd told her Damon had left town, three years ago; she had been crushed, utterly depressed. Right after she chose to complete her transition –for the sake of Jeremy's-, she had enclosed herself in her room, and away from everyone. She refused to get out, not even to feed, even though her hunger was driving her insane. If anyone came up to her room, she'd yell them that she wouldn't.

In her mind she had that crazy idea that Damon would materialize out of nothing, and tell her she was being a brat; then, he would throw her on his shoulder and force her out. Even then, she knew that that was most likely impossible. But, the girl couldn't help but hope. Sadly, her dream never came true; because the man that was supposed to never leave her, did in fact leave and had no intentions of ever coming back.

It was the time where she had been depressed the most; but it was nothing compared to this despair. She didn't expect their first reunion, after three years of being apart, to go like this.

He was supposed to enter the door, screaming her name desperately, due to the time he had been apart from her. He would rummage through the house until he'd find her, sitting on his favorite arm chair in the study; the fireplace would be casting an inviting and romantic light on the darkened room; she would be reading the same book she had been reading over and over again for three years -his favorite book: '_The Call of the wild';_ in an attempt to remind herself of what she couldn't appreciate, and in consequence had lost- and holding, in her other hand, a glass full of his favorite bourbon of all times.

He would storm through the door, screaming his undying love for her at the top of his lungs. Then, he would drop to his knees in front of her desperately asking for her forgiveness, for breaking that sacred promise he had mad in that very same room. After a lot of begging, she would tell him that he was forgiven, he always had been. After that, they would share such a passionate kiss, that would prove the ever-lasting love they felt for each other; then, he would produce an old looking diamond and sapphire ring. He would say a touching and loving speech, then he would say he couldn't imagine eternity if she wasn't by his side; right before he would ask her the most amazing, yet scaring question: '_Will you marry me?'_

But now, her dreams had been reduced to nothing, turned to ashes. All because of that _fucking_ whore that was currently holding hands with the man she didn't know was what she had been looking for all along. She had the feral urge to grab Damon and drag him the hell out of here and away from the slut. She wanted to mark her territory and send the whore back to Whoreville.

All this chain of thoughts didn't last longer than a few seconds, when she was shook out of her malicious reverie, once again by Damon's voice.

"Aren't you gonna invite us in?" Damon asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.

"You know an invitation isn't necessary"Elena snapped at him. Now that the despair was gone, a new emotion replaced it: anger. Untaming, utter, irrational, and complete anger.

Seeing the intimate hold Damon had the slut's hand in made her see red with irrational rage. She had this insane urge to make _'what-was-her-name?'_ suffer for even daring to set eyes on _her_ man. She wanted to make her suffer so much that she wished she was never born. In her head she was already planning all the torture methods she would inflict upon her. First, she would chain her down in the basement cellar, with vervain soaked chains. Then, she would spray vervain all over her entire body, until her skin was as red as a cherry. After that, she would take four stakes, and she would lunge them all together in her chest, not close enough to her heart to kill her, but close enough so the pain would be unbearable. Then, she would happily tear her apart; limb from limb. She would peal skin off muscle; muscle off bone. She would keep on torturing her, until she begged for mercy and asked her to kill her; only so the intolerable pain would stop. But the begging would fall in deaf ears. Elena would not kill her. She would just unchain one of her wrists and hand her a makeshift stake, which the slut would use to drive through her undead heart; only to relieve the torture. That way Damon wouldn't blame her for killing his new _girlfriend_.

"Then, can you please move out of the way and let us enter?" Damon said in a cold tone of voice. Three years later, and the girl still could annoy him with the littlest of things.

Damon was trying to keep his composure, but deep down he was a mess. He didn't plan on crossing paths with the latest Doppelganger during his return, in fact he didn't even want her to know he was coming back. But just as he had predicted, things never go as they are supposed to when Elena is involved. He had been pretty specific to Stefan as to who could, and who could not know about him coming back. And Elena was in the '_could not'_ pile. 'And for a good reason' his conscience reminded him. Proven by how Elena had already managed to get under his skin again, and she had just said what, one single sentence? This fact scared him, not that he would ever accept it, but if she had gotten under his skin so fast, after just four words that she had spoken to him, what would happen if he stayed longer? 'Run, Salvatore! Run while you still have time; and before she sucks you in all over again' his mind was screaming at him. But he ignored it. He refused to let a _girl_ make him, a 175-year-old vampire, run scared from his _own _house. He was here for a motive, and he'd be damned if he didn't get it over with because of Elena _fucking_ Gilbert. So, he made a promise to himself; he would finish, as soon as he could, whatever it is that he came back for, and then he would get the hell out of here, to never be seen again. He wouldn't let Elena Gilbert walk back into his life and destroy everything all over again; like he let her do, three years ago. He wouldn't let her in again, not even if his life depended on it. He would rely on Irina and fight any attempt Elena might make to suck him back in. Irina would be his fort.

He saw how Elena's face fell at his coldness, and a few tears forming in her eyes; and he had the stupid urge to pull her into his arms to comfort her. But he sent that urge straight to hell. He groaned when he realized that he had to be even more careful around her than he initially thought. If he was already having that kind of thoughts, it meant that she had gotten under his skin much deeper than he cared to admit, even to himself. From now on, and until his upcoming departure, he would walk on eggshells around her. That was if he was around her at all. Which he just decided, he wouldn't. He'd avoid being around the Boarding House when she was over, and only come home when he was sure she wasn't there. Little did he know…

When Elena made no move to get out of their way, he tightened hi hold on Irina's hand and, together, they walked around Elena's still form. He dragged Irina upstairs and in direction of his room, little did he know of the surprise he would get when he walked in.

Elena's eyes widened when she saw where they were heading. They could not go to his room right now, they just couldn't. she was hoping that they would go to the parlor first, and have a drink; at least that was what the Damon she knew and loved would do. But as they say, nothing ever goes as planned. The cracking of the steps beneath their feet, shook her out of her thoughts. She rushed upstairs, in a failed try to stop them, but it was too late; Damon had already opened his bedroom's door and was looking at the stuff in it dumbfounded. She see the confusion in his eyes turned into anger when he turned to look at her. She looked down guiltily, and swallowed the lump in her throat. She was expecting his roaring voice to explode through the silence in the room; but it never came. She looked up at him and saw that he was trying his hardest not to lash out at her, but was clearly failing.

"Why is _my room_ filled with your stuff" he hissed through impossibly tight clenched teeth. She knew that he _loved _his room, and he hated when someone entered without permission. She gave him her puppy dog eyes, trying to get him to calm down; but apparently, it didn't work. If possible, his anger grew even more at the sight of that look that had made him do everything she wanted, before when he was foolishly in love with her. Now it just angered him.

"I-I-I don't know if you know this, but now I'm living here, in the boarding house" Elena stuttered and gave him a sheepishly smile. She knew she had to calm him down, before he got even more worked up.

"And you couldn't find another room to sleep in? There are other six bedrooms!" his voiced roared through the room and Elena flinched. Seeing the look in his eyes made her want to crawl in a corner and sob. Damon had never look at her with so much hatred in his eyes, that she doubted that all his rage was because of her staying in his room, but also because of her poorly-thought actions three years ago.

"I-I like this room" she defended herself. She wanted to tell him the real reason she had chosen _his room_ to sleep in, and not one of the guest rooms. She did, because she wanted to, somehow, stay close to Damon when he was away and not coming back.

When Stefan told her that Damon was coming back, she didn't bother taking her stuff out; because in her mind, after Damon asking her to marry him, he would take her up to his room –which now would be _their_ room- and they would make passionate and wild sex; all night, and all the next day, trying to make up for their time apart.

But now, that dream was also crushed, along with the others. And she wanted to cry. Because, not only would she not be in their –his- room with him; but, because he would be sharing the same bed, which she had dreamt of him making tender and sweet love to her on- with another woman –vampire-, that was a slut at it, by the way.

The rational voice in her head was telling her that she was being unfair to the Russian vampire -calling her names in her mind, and wishing to kill her-; but the other part was also telling it to shut the fuck up. Elena heard the jealous part of her head, which was telling her to take the first opportunity she got, and use it to get rid of the blond bitch.

"You won't be staying here anymore. I am" Damon hissed at her and showed her his fangs. "So get your shit, along with your ass, out of_my_ room"

Damon knew he was being irrational with her. He knew he was overreacting, over the simple fact that Elena had been sleeping in his room, on his bed. The same bed he had dreamt of making sweet love to her on, uncountable times before she broke his heart. Unconsciously, he was imagining that she had slept here because she wanted to, somehow, keep close to him, when he wasn't there. Even though, the thought warmed his heart; he knew it was impossible. He groaned inwardly when he realized the he made another mistake, by letting those thoughts enter his mind. He was already breaking his promise; and he had made it just what, three minutes ago? 'Get a hold, Salvatore' his conscious snapped at him.

"And what if I don't want to, huh?" Elena took a defying step towards him. He knew what she was doing, trying to get under his skin. Little did she know that she was deeper in it than she thought. "I like this room, and I _am _staying here. You were gone for three years; you don't get to walk back in and expect that everyone does what you want" Elena snapped.

"Listen to me, you little brat. This room was mine even before you were even born. If I have to, I throw you on my shoulder and carry you out myself" he threatened. Which he shouldn't have; because it only triggered her stubborn side. She would never let a threat challenge go.

"Do as you will. But I'm _not_ leaving this room to you. Especially not if _that _is sleeping here with you" Elena snapped in his head, pushing his shoulder and walking to the bed, sitting on it.

"_This _has a name. Now if you know what's good for you, I'd recommend you leave the room to us" Irina hissed. Elena couldn't ignore the threat in that sentence, but that just ignited her Petrova fire.

"No. If _you_ know what's good for you, I'd recommend you get the hell out of my face, _bitch_"Elena snapped at the Russian. She couldn't believe that sentence just left her mouth; she wasn't usually a violent person, but that whore brought the worst out of her.

"Oh, yeah? And what _are_ you going to do?" Irina mocked her and Elena saw red. She couldn't believe the nerve of that Russian girl. Walking in and acting like she owned the house? She would be sorely disappointed. _She_ owned the house at least that was what the deed said.

"I don't know if you're aware but you're in _my_ house, Irisha" Elena smirked at the blond vampire.

"This is Damon's house" the blonde spat at Elena.

"That's where you're wrong, _Sweetie._ Hasn't Damon told you that four years ago he signed the deed over to me? Yeah, he gave me his house, because he couldn't stand that I was unprotected in my _own_ house. Can you imagine how much he must have loved me? He stood in front of me when I was shot with an arrow, and got a werewolf bite so that my best friend wouldn't. Tell me Irisha, does he love you as much as me, even half of how much he loved me?" Elena smirked when she saw that she had probably hit a nerve with her speech. The Russian, whose name she still couldn't get right, was clenching her teeth incredibly tight. She knew that Damon probably still hasn't told her he loved her. 'There's still hope, Elena' her mind cheered her.

"First, my name is Irina. And second, keyword is _loved_, as in _past tense_" Irina smirked back at her. "You're past news, _Sweetie._ I'm his_girlfriend. _So tell me, _Elena_, were you ever in a relationship with him? No? Thought so" the Russian grinned mischievously at Elena's hurt expression.

Elena wouldn't let the whore walk all over her. So; as fast as she could, she sped to the bitch and broke her neck before she could do anything. The body fell to the ground with a big thump.

"Take your _slut_ out of here, Damon. I'm not leaving this room"


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Damon was fuming with bottled up rage; all the while pacing the distance between the couch and the fireplace. He still couldn't believe what had just happened. Did _Elena Gilbert_ -the quiet, calm and always so collected girl he'd been in love with- really just break his girlfriend neck, and throw _him_ out of his own _fucking_ room? The nerve the damned Doppelganger had! How dared she! Just because they hadn't changed the deed back under their –his and Stefan's- names, it didn't mean that she had the right to order him around; much less throw him out of _his_ room. The next time he'd see her…

'You'll what? We both know you would never be capable of harming her,' his conscience mocked him smirking. Damon told it to shut the fuck up, and continued pacing. 'Admit it, Salvatore; even after three years, she still makes you weak on the knees, and makes you want to protect her' Damon shook his head and tightened his hold on the bourbon glass he had in his hand before throwing it directly into the fireplace, making its fire burn with more vivacity. He refused to believe that after everything Elena had put him through, he would still care for her in anyway. He didn't, he _couldn't._ No! He did _not_ care about Elena anymore. He did _not_ care if he hurt her, or not. He did _not_care whether she lived or died. She could be staked right at this moment, and he _would not _care. Wanna know why? Because he didn't care about Elena, at all. _'Denial' _the same internal voice said in a sing-song tone. It was _not_ denial. He really did _not _care; he didn't now, and he never would again. 'Who are you trying to fool? Me? Or yourself?' his conscience mocked him.

Damon was shook out of his inner war by the moaning coming from his neck-broken girlfriend –whom was currently waking up for the_slumber_ Elena _fucking_ Gilbert put her in. Even though he was still pissed as hell, he couldn't deny that he was actually pretty impressed by her bravery, and her speed. He had sometimes tried to attack the Russian vampire, but he always ended pinned to the ground, with an unbreakable grasp on his throat. But Elena had just moved as a bolt light and broken her neck like it was a twig. He knew it wasn't easy attacking a vampire older than you, especially one as old as Irina was. They were stronger, faster, and their reflexes were as fast as lighting. Yet, Elena did it like it was nothing; like she did it in a daily basis. 'She must have been super mad, if she could take down Irina by herself'. 'There it is that stupid voice again' Damon scoffed. 'I don't know if you're aware, but _that stupid voice_ is you. I'm your conscience, idiot!' the _stupid voice_ scolded him; Damon only snorted, annoyed by its come back. He thought that he was done with his inner war.

When Irina had finally come back, she cracked her neck, and moaned at the pain. She looked around and saw that she was lying on a couch in a living room, somewhere. She didn't remember going to sleep, and even if she _would've_ gone to sleep, it wouldn't be on an uncomfortable couch as the one she was on. Then, it all suddenly came back to her; the arrival to Mystic Falls, her and Damon going up to his bedroom, her first meeting with the woman whom broke Damon's heart… Then, it clicked. That bitch! Oh she hadn't! She had not broken her neck! But she knew she had! That stupid little _whore_!

She jumped from the couch and sped upstairs to give that Doppelganger bitch a piece of her mind. Perhaps, even kill her. The newbie vampire was no match for her, and she would be doing the world a favor if she got rid of her. She knew that the Salvatore's would be pissed at her, but she simply did not care; they would thank her in the end, once they saw what a burden in their lives the Doppel-vamp really was.

She stormed through Damon's room's door and saw the skank sitting comfortably on the bed, reading a book: Jack London's '_The Call of the Wild'. _She felt Damon entering the room, mere seconds after her. He stood anxiously by the door, and did not move; waiting to see how the situation would unfold. Elena felt their presence in the room, and lifted her eyes from the book she was reading. She smirked at the now awake vampire bitch.

"What? You want your neck broken again?" Elena grinned sarcastically. "You were out for quite some time" Elena stated. "Aren't old vampires supposed to heal quicker than us, Damon?" she turned her sarcastic glance at Damon, who was still motionless. She looked back at Irina. "I think you must be just broken, if it took you so long to recover from a broken neck"

"You shouldn't have done what you did" Irina's fangs elongated and the veins around her eyes were pulsating with rage. Elena had to admit that it was quite a scary sight, but she would never say it. Elena really wasn't scared by the old vampire –although she knew she should be-; but she was sure Damon would never allow any harm coming to her. He might not love her anymore, but he had spent quite some time trying to save her life. And that wasn't something that you forget that easy.

Irina tensed her muscles, and lunged for Elena's neck. Her plan was to bite her, then plunge her hand into her chest and pull the bitch's heart out. However, she never made it to her target; because just when she was just millimeters away from Elena's neck, she fell to the ground, clutching her head with both her hands and screaming in agony. Damon sped to her and tried to help her, even though he had no damn idea of what was wrong with her. He looked around feverishly, trying to find something to calm Irina, but he was unsuccessful. Irina's high pitched screams were roaring through the wooden walls of his room and he found himself unable to do anything to cease her agony.

Just when he lifted his head to the entryway of his room did he find the reason for Irina's torture. He had been so consumed by watching the catfight between his former love, and his current one that he didn't feel that arrival of the young Bennett witch. He immediately knew that she was the reason Irina was crawling on the floor, screaming her lungs out in pain.

"Bonnie, stop it!" he snarled at the witch; but she paid him no attention, too focused on the spell that had his girlfriend shouting in pain. "Bonnie, stop!" he hissed. He couldn't stand seeing his powerful woman reduced to a screaming pile on the floor. When he saw that Bonnie had no intentions of stopping, he sped to her and shook her out of her trance. Immediately, Irina stopped her pained screaming. Bonnie blinked and brought her hand up to her nose, where a trail of blood was coming from.

"What the hell! Why on earth did you stop me?" Bonnie screamed at him.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you were making my girlfriend's brain explode, over and over again" Damon yelled at her, showing her his fangs.

Elena was dumbfounded by what'd happened. She couldn't believe it. She had trusted with all her being that Damon would never let anything, or _anyone_ hurt her. The idea of him not trying to protect her had never, ever crossed her mind, not even once. She thought he would always save her; and that it would never change. She couldn't believe that he had done nothing, while his stupid bitch of a girlfriend had tried to kill her. He just stood there, when she was trying to kill her? He just stood there! He didn't do anything! Had it not been for Bonnie, she would be dead by now.

This fact hurt her so deeply that she couldn't even stand the sight of him. She couldn't look at him right now. Everything she believed in had changed. Damon didn't love her anymore; he was with another woman; he seemed not to care a little bit about her; but the cherry on the top was that her life didn't mean anything to him anymore. She had to get away.

So, as always, she did what she knew how to do best, run away. Just as she did three years ago, when she ran away from Damon and into the safety Stefan offered. She sped out of the room and out of the house in little less than five seconds; and nobody noticed her departure.

"_That_ is your_ girlfriend_? What is wrong with you?" Bonnie spat in his face. She knew that her best friend still had a _thing_ for Damon, and that seeing Damon with his new _girlfriend_ must have hurt her. What she didn't know was how big that _thing _was; nobody did. Except for Stefan.

"_That_ has a name" Damon spat back at the Bennett witch.

"By all means, enlighten me" Bonnie expressed sarcastically.

"Her name is Irina"Damon was glaring at Bonnie so hard that she felt like his eyes were actually blades that were slicing through her being.

"And you let _Irina_ go as far as almost killing Elena?" Bonnie couldn't believe it, either. She had always trusted Damon to protect Elena's life against anything or anyone. Yet, he stood there while his own _girlfriend _tried to kill the girl –whose life he had spent so much time trying to save. "It's Elena, Damon. You remember her, right? The girl whose life you saved so many times before. How could you just stand there and do nothing while your _girlfriend_ tried to kill her?" the witch's voice was dripping with venom. She couldn't help it; she was fuming.

"Do not say the word 'girlfriend' in that tone of voice" Damon warned her. "And perhaps I'm tired of saving that deceiving bitch's life. Perhaps I don't care whether she lives or dies anymore" Damon hissed. He was sick of people thinking they knew him. They didn't. And it infuriated him that they always had such high expectations from him. Stupid fools, Damon thought.

"Cut the though act, Damon. Nobody's buying it! We both know you always have and will forever care about Elena" Bonnie told him and made her way downstairs and out of the boarding house without a glance back.

Damon shook his head and made his way over to Irina, who still was on the floor recovering from the aneurism the witch gave her. He offered her his hand, and she took it.

"From now on, those bitches better watch their backs. Once I'm done with them, they'll wish they were never born" Irina spat in an angry voice.

"You will not hurt them. You will not hurt anyone" it wasn't a question, but a statement. He still didn't know whether he cared about Elena, or not. But what he did know was that he would never let any harm happen to her.

"Like hell I won't" Irina spat. She really was angry. No, she wasn't angry; she was fucking pissed. She had been humiliated twice today, and she would not let that fact go. She was a vengeful vampire when needed be.

"You won't" Damon warned her. He wouldn't let her hurt anyone in this fucking town. Even though he hated every one of its habitants, it was still his home town.

"Why do you care so much?" the Russian spat. She was starting to get angry at him, too. She did not want to believe that Damon would still care about Elena in anyway. The bitch didn't deserve it in the slightest; at least not after breaking his heart so many times before. As Damon, Irina made a promise to herself: if that bitch Elena came between her and _her _Damon, she wouldn't hesitate in the slightest killing her.

Why did he care? That had been the million dollar question that had lingered in Damon's mind, since his pacing in the living room. In his mind still thought he did _not_ care. He wanted to believe that because he wasn't ready to accept that even after the shit he had been through because of Elena, he still cared in any way about her. 'It's easier to pretend, isn't it Damon?' his conscience whispered in his ear; but Damon sent it away.

"I don't?" it sounded more a question than a statement. Damon closed his eyes when he realized his mistake. He shouldn't have been listening to his stupid fucking conscience. It just brought him problems, any time he listened to it. He expected to hear Irina's pissed off voice, reproaching him for being an idiot, and for been wondering whether he cared about the Doppelganger, or not. But all he heard was the hissing of air. Confused, he opened his eyes and saw that his girlfriend was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

**Meanwhile…**

As soon as Elena flew out of the Salvatore Boarding House, she went to the one place she had been going for the past six years whenever she needed to think. Her parents' grave. She sat down on the grass next to their epitaph and closed her eyes letting her thoughts invade her mind. For first she thought about Damon finally coming back home; she inwardly wondered how long would he stay in town, and how would it be when he left again. For sure she would be left devasted; just like she was when he left her three years ago; she would cry, she would scream, she would shut down, she would _kill_, she would break…

Then, she started thinking of Damon's slut of a girlfriend. She couldn't believe that Damon had moved on so quickly. In her mind, three years were not enough time to move on from someone you loved as much as Damon had loved her. She refused to believe that Damon had stopped loving her completely. It wasn't possible, it just wasn't. He could not have forgotten how consuming the love he felt for her was. A love like that wasn't something you moved on from in just three years, if ever. That kind of love was one that lasted forever and you couldn't just forget about it. Or so she thought…

Lastly she began thinking of her inappropriate behavior. She almost didn't want to believe that she had behaved the way she did. She had never been the one to act out on her emotions. She had always preferred to bottle up her emotions and put them away. She didn't want to be an emotional wreck so she always tried to keep them in check. She was bewildered that she had snapped so easily at the Russian. She had never fully understood the complete meaning of heightened emotions before. But now she _really_ did. She had snapped just _like that._

She shook her head when she realized that she had made a fool out of herself. She was embarrassed by how pathetic she must have looked. She acted like a pathetic possessive _girlfriend_; when she, by any means, was not. She had to stop with her possessive act, and let them be. For starters she would leave Damon's room to them even though the thought of them together in his bed made her want to puke. Then, she would leave Irisha –that was her name, right?- alone and not attack her anymore –physically, nor verbally-.

Her mind was full of her thinking, but she couldn't send them away, nor did she want to. She was invaded by every memory she had from before Damon left town; and the ones she made after he left. Her mind kept running and running, and running. Until it stopped at the most painful, yet defining memory she possessed. It was one form just a few hours ago: _Damon willing to let her die_…

She cried when this memory came to her. She had never been so hurt and disappointed before. Right in that moment she felt like she wanted to die. His coldness and detachment about anything concerning her, hurt like a bitch. That was when she had an epitome…

'_Damon doesn't care about you anymore' _the voice in her head –her conscience- told her, twisting the knife she had in her chest; laughing when Elena's cries became louder, because it knew that she most likely deserved everything that came her way. After the shit she had made Damon go through…

Once Elena's cries had somehow calmed down a little, she started thinking of how selfish and unfair she had been to the blue eyed vampire –who now seemed to hate her with a passion-. She had always taken him for granted, and took advantage of his love for her to make him do the dirty work that no one of her friends dared to do. He always did it, and never complained about it. _Why?_ Because he loved her that much. And what had he gotten in return for doing said dirty work? He had gotten fingers pointed at him, and dirty looks form her friends. As soon as his job was done, he was treated like he was nothing more than an annoying bug that needed to be shooed away. But above anything else, he got _her_ dirty looks and complains of his love being so suffocating and a liability. _What did he ever ask in return for those tasks?_ Only for her to accept him for who and what he was. But she never did. She never truly accepted –nor approved- of his lifestyle. At least not until _she_ became what he was, and truly understood how hard it was to be a 'blood-sucking monster with no redeeming qualities'. The difference was that she never got dirty looks. 'Why, may you ask?' Because how on earth anything that perfect Elena Gilbert did would ever be wrong?

There were hypocrites everywhere, she realized now. What right did her friends have to judge any of his actions when all he had done was protect them and their little stupid town? Why didn't they realize that all he had done in those three years he was in town was out of his love for her and his little brother? Why had Caroline ever held a grudge against him for having been turned, when all he did was give her his blood so she wouldn't die? Why did Bonnie still hold a grudge against him for turning her mother into a vampire? Why couldn't she realize that she had chosen Abby so she wouldn't have to become what she hated most? Besides, why on earth did it still matter, when he had saved her from death many times before? Then, there was Stefan. He had always condemned his big brothers action and signaled him as nothing more than a monster. What fucking right did he have to point finger at him when he had done so much worse things in the past?

And last, but not least. There was her. Damon had saved her life so many times that she had already lost count; they were just too many and so little fingers in her hands. She had never thanked him for risking his own life just to save hers –with the exception of that time in the porch when they had had their first real kiss. He had been willing to be killed by Klaus so she could get her _epic love_ back. And what did she do in return? She left him alone to wait for his death, possibly in the hands of his friend. She was like a disease to him. A horrible and painful disease that he couldn't find the cure for. The only cure existent was if she got out of his life for good.

In that moment she made a choice: after everything he'd gone through he deserved to be happy, and if his happiness was with that Russian girl, she would back off and finally let him have peace and happiness. From now on, she wouldn't interfere in Damon and his girlfriend's love life. She would back _the fuck_ off, even if it killed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**Damon's POV**

Damon was in the parlor, drinking his tenth glass of bourbon of the night. He was a little anxious. He didn't know where Irina had disappeared to, but he did know that when Irina was upset, bad things always happened. _And she definitely was upset when she left, _he thought. He just hoped that he didn't have to clean up her messes, if she made any.

Just as he was about to pour himself his next glass, he heard the door being opened and closed. He focused his hearing and knew that it was Elena right away. He still was super angry at her. Not only did she act like she owned the house –_she does,_ his inner voice reminded him-, but she also caused him to question feelings he thought he had buried years ago. She was the reason he had upset Irina, with her innocent smile that pulled up her very kissable lips, and her big doe eyes that he could spend eternity looking into… _What the fuck are you thinking, Salvatore!_ the same annoying voice in his head snapped at him. _You don't feel anything for her anymore, remember? You can't _the voice continued reprimanded him. He shook his head when he realized that he was probably going insane; talking and arguing with his own fucking mind? What was wrong with him!

_Elena…_

Shut the fuck up!

* * *

**Elena's POV**

Elena could really use a drink after the emotionally draining day she'd had. She made her way into the parlor and saw the man that had been in her mind all day. He was sitting on his favorite armchair –the one that was just in front of the roaring fireplace- a glass of his favorite bourbon in hand. She saw his body going rigid as soon as she entered the oversized living room. She took a deep breath to prevent herself from jumping his bones. _Operation: Forget Damon, officially begins_… she thought.

"Hi, Damon" she acknowledged him with a tiny shy smile. He only nodded in her direction, not even lifting his gaze from his beloved bourbon.

Elena made her way to the wet bar and poured herself a glass of scotch. She wanted to have bourbon, but knew how possessive Damon was over his whiskey. After her glass was halfway filled, she walked over to the big couch and sat on it. She knew that if she was going to back off from him, she needed to stay as far away from him as possible while he was still there; but she also knew they needed to talk, about everything.

"Damon" she asked softly, not wanting to startle him, but he didn't respond to her. "Damon" her voice was a little louder this time, but still she got no response. She scoffed; she still hated when Damon acted this childish. She stood up and walked over to him, positioning herself in front of him so he couldn't keep ignoring her; and Damon groaned.

"_What?_" he snapped at her, the word escaping through clenched teeth. Elena flinched at his aggressiveness, and recoiled from him like he had burned her. He sighed when he realized he'd hurt her feelings. _Why does it matter if you do, huh? It's not like she ever cared about yours_ the voice in his head screamed at him. He shook his head. "What do you want?" his voice softened when he saw the look on her eyes, she looked like a scolded puppy. She was trying to keep her tears at bay, and he hated that he was the one that caused them. Even though he didn't care about her, he still didn't like being the reason of her pain.

"We need to talk" it sounded like a plea.

"No. We don't." Damon didn't want to talk to her about anything, at all. He considered that if they talked, it would bring up unnecessary heartache. He _really_ didn't need to have to go through this all over again. It was enough that he had had to, when they had their last talk, three years ago.

"Yes. We _do_." Elena told him, lifting her eyebrows and putting emphasis in the word 'do'. She knew that in order for her to back off, she needed to get everything she felt for him out in the open. If she was going to back off, she needed him to know that it wasn't because she wanted to, but because she thought he deserved to be happy. "There's so much we haven't talked about, yet. I need to tell you some things I've never said to you.. and I think you do, too" she softly whispered.

"I think we've told each other everything we needed to. Three years ago" he said in a resented tone of voice, lifting his eyebrows sarcastically.

Hearing him say that brought out the painful memory of their last talk, right before he took off.

* * *

_-FLASHBACK-_

**General POV**

_It had been a few hours since Elena had woken up gasping for air, and confused as hell. At first she didn't understand how it was possible that she was still breathing and alive, or so she thought. She was beyond happy, she was ecstatic. Right before the blackness surrounded her completely, she had resigned herself that dying would be inevitable. She knew that it was bound to happen sooner, or later. She was the doppelganger, therefore dying was written in her destiny. But she certainly was hoping to have had a little more time. Though she did not regret her decision of having Matt saved first._

_As soon as she realized that she hadn't died that night and had cheated death all over again, she jumped off bed –not noticing the crying figure of Stefan sitting by her metal cold bed's side. She had touched herself on all the places she could to make sure that it was not a dream and that she was indeed alive and not dead -as she should be.-_

_When she realized it was the reality that she was still breathing, she was left _really_ happy. She sported a big smile as she made her way back to her unusual metal bed. This fact confused her. _Since when are hospital beds made of metal? _It clicked in her when she remembered they weren't. She looked around her and saw that her surroundings weren't the usual of a hospital room either. The walls weren't painted in clean and bright white, but gray; sad and creepy gray. Up until that moment, she still hadn't noticed how cold the room really was. _Since when are hospitals so cold?_ Her mind kept running a thousand miles an hour; trying to understand the situation she was in._

_It wasn't until she saw Stefan's crying and broken face that she realized that things weren't as it seemed. The wheels in her head started turning and she instantly knew what'd happened. She was dead… at least technically._

"NO!" _her horrified scream came._

_She was beyond horrified, she was petrified. It wasn't only that she was dead, but she had become what she never wanted to become. She was the thing that she had been avoided for the past three years._

_A vampire…_

_She felt a few tears rolling down her cheeks, and soon her silent crying turned into whole-body wrenching sobs. She was sobbing so hard that she didn't hear Stefan as he stood up from his chair and made his way over to her and try to comfort her. She jerked away from him, ignoring his hurt look over her not wanting him to be there for her. At the moment she did not care! She did not want to be comforted! She had just lost everything she never wanted to lose: her human life. She had lost it, and along with it she had lost everything she wanted out of life. Now, she would never have children –which was what she wanted most-; she would never have grandchildren; she would never get to sit on a porch, gray haired, and with the man of his dreams –equally gray haired- by her side, watching their grandchildren play in the backyard while their parents would be starting the grill. She would never get to die after having a complete and happy life. The volume of her sobs increased as those thoughts invaded her mind. She had lost all of it! In that moment she even dared to think that dying would have been better. She was sobbing so hard, that she didn't notice the pair of blue eyes that were watching her from the doorway, nor did she notice them disappearing when her despair became too much to witness._

_She kept crying her lungs out for a good thirty minutes –not allowing Stefan to comfort her-; but eventually she calmed down. Her body wrenching sobs turned into silent whimpers that eventually turned into silent tears, and then into nothing._

_Only when her crying stopped did she allow Stefan to put her in his arms. He rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back softly with one hand, and the other was running through her soft straight hair. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. It had been a long day she had had._

_When she woke up, she was on Stefan's bed and the sun had already raised. She looked at Stefan's clock on the bedside table and saw that it was 11 AM. She jumped from the bed, but immediately regretted it. She was too weak and her legs could carry her weight, they gave up beneath her and her body collapsed. However before she could make contact with the hard floor, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her slim form. She didn't understand why she was so weak; what'd happened to her?_

_She felt like crying when she remembered why exactly she was that weak. She'd hoped that it was a big awful nightmare that she had finally woken up from. But it turned out that the nightmare was her reality, and she could not wake up from it._

_Damon carried her back to the bed and laid her down on it. He tucked her in the bed sheets and went to lay on the other side, right across from her. He turned to his side –an action Elena copied- so he could look at her face when he told her what he had come to tell her. But before he did, he needed to know how exactly she was._

"_How are you?" he asked softly while looking into her eyes, they were burning with unshed tears._

"_Not fine" she simply stated. She didn't want to lie anymore; she didn't feel the need to. What was the point of it anymore?_

"_I know. It was a stupid question" he smirked half-heartedly, wincing a little._

"_It was" Elena agreed with him and smiled. She was surprised by how at ease she felt now in Damon's company, since when she was human she would always feel nervous and tense around him. And the sexual tension was always higher that the Empire State building…_Wow, did you just say sexual tension? So you're finally admitting to yourself that you _are_ attracted to him?_ Her conscience smirked at her, smugly. SHUT UP!_

"_You know what you're gonna do?" Damon asked, really frightened of the answer. He feared she would not go through with her transition._

"_No… I don't" she whispered softly._

"_What do you mean 'you don't'!" Damon snapped at her, and she flinched by the hostility in his voice. He had never yelled at her like that, and it made her want to cry. Fuck vampires and their fucking heightened emotions… "Do you want die? Do you wish not to be alive anymore? If so, I can gladly pull out your heart, right now; and we can save ourselves all this misery" his nostrils flared and his upper lip retracted showing his perfectly white teeth in a menacing way._

"_I don't know what I want, Damon" she admitted in a considerably weak voice. Damon scoffed._

"_As usual! You don't know what you want, so you choose to string us along!" he snarled before he could realize that those words would really leave a mark on her._

_However, at the moment he didn't give a fuck if he hurt her feelings. After all, she had crushed his last night; and she'd done in remorselessly, or so he thought. Right there he was so fucking pissed that he didn't care if his words ripped her to pieces. He was pissed at everyone; at her, for stringing him along; at Stefan, for being such a free-will-defender asshole that chose to listen to an eighteen-year-old girl -that didn't even know what she fucking wanted- when she told him to save that stupid Mutt or whatever he's called -_He's a_fucking_ vampire! Why the fuck couldn't he ripped Elena's seatbelt and take her out along with the Donovan boy? Or why the fuck did he save said boy's life, at all?-_; at that fucking quarterback, whose life had been saved before his precious Elena's, therefore condemning her to an eternal life of misery she didn't wish to live. But most of all he was fucking pissed at himself! Why the fuck had he let himself being strung along by a chick that had obviously never stopped being in love with his brother –why had he allowed himself to hope that maybe she'd choose him?-; why had he acceded to that stupid flip coin?; why wasn't he there when Elena needed him most?; why had he trusted his _fucking brother_ to keep her safe –when he knew how much he sucked at it-. He needed to let all his frustrations out; even if it was to Elena…_

_He saw her eyes shining with more tears until one dares to actually roll down her cheek. The sight almost made him back off, but he needed to ease is anger._

"_How can you!" she screamed at him, trying to punch him out of bed; but she was too weak, due to her not having fed and completed the transition. The more time she went without feeding, the weaker shed become. Until inevitably, she'd die. "How _dare _you!" she was so angry he had chosen to bring _that_ subject out! _How dares he!_ It was such a sore topic for her, and she didn't want to be reminded of her wrongdoings to the oldest Salvatore. She didn't want to feel like she was Katherine, for stringing them both along, not choosing who she wanted to be with. But she was not; because she _had _chosen who she wanted to be with. However, that fact did not make her feel better about herself. She knew she still loved Stefan, yet she also was slowly falling for the older brother. She had done nothing else but string Damon along, knowing that in the end she would run to the safety Stefan offered. She had left him to die alone! He was probably sad or scared! _Oh who are you kidding, he was definitely sad _and _scared!_ Her inner voice snapped at her._

"_No, Elena! How _dare_ you!" Damon screamed back at her. Today, he would not let her walk all over him. Today _he'd_ be the one walking all over _her_! "How dared you string me along! Knowing that in the end you would choose Stefan!" he was not scared to hurt her feelings; not anymore. After all, from now on he wouldn't have to see her ever again. Today he could be completely honest; with her, and most importantly with himself._

"_You don't know how it was!" she fought back. She wasn't afraid to hurt his feelings either. After all, she couldn't hurt him more than she already had._

"_Of course I don't know how it was! You never trusted me enough to tell me how you felt about it! To you I was always just the guy you went to when your friends of Saint Stefan were afraid to do the dirty work! Nothing else! I'm starting to think you never even saw me as your friend! How foolish of me! How the fuck would perfect Elena Gilbert would choose the scumbag brother over the saint one, right?" he asked sarcastically, trying to hide his pain. "Of course she wouldn't! What would people think if she went from one brother to the other! How it would break St. Stefan's poor little heart, right! But mine can go to hell, as long as his is safe and sound!" Elena shook his head, really hurt by his outburst. She had never meant for it to go like that. She was never supposed to fall for the bad brother. She was supposed to still be in love with her epic love Stefan, and she should see Damon just as a friend –nothing less, nothing more-. She was never supposed to break Damon's, nor Stefan's hearts. But now, she was breaking both. And she hated it! She fucking hated it!_

"_It wasn't like that. I never meant to be like that. I _do _care about you, Damon" she pleaded with him; trying to get him to understand that it wasn't her intention to string him along. She was just afraid to lose someone else that she loved. She had already lost too many._

"_Of course it was like that, Elena!" he roared in anger and jumped from the bed. He started pacing back and forth. He turned to look at her, and the look he gave her, it scared her. "'_I care about you Damon, which is why I have to let you go'" _he made a poor imitation of her voice, which only angered her. How dared he make fun of such a hard moment for her! "You've given me that bullshit enough times, Elena. Difference is; this time, _I_ don't care" he told her as serious as he could be._

"_You don't mean that" Elena thought that he was bluffing, and that his words were caused by the heat of the moment. Little did she know that he _did_ mean them -or at least that what he had thought-._

"_Sure, I do" he smirked. "I'm tired of trying to be what you want me to be. It's clear that it'll never be enough. So I'm done! I'm done putting up with your bullshit; I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not; I'm done of not being enough… But above all, I'm done with_you_" he spat viciously in her face. The last statement did make her tears flow. Once they started flowing, it was like a waterfall, impossible to stop._

"_You don't mean that" she repeated. But her voice was so thin that it implied that not even _she_ believed it. She wanted to believe it. It couldn't be true that Damon was done with _her_ and that he didn't care about her anymore. He wasn't, and he did. He had to…_

"_I _do _mean that, Elena" his smirk was evil; and it broke her heart when she couldn't see the love in his eyes anymore. Those eyes that once offered her the universe, if so she desired; they were now dead, lifeless. There was no light in them, there was no warmth, there was no tenderness, there was no love…_

"_No, you don't! You can't!" she yelled at him, grabbing him by his shirt when he came close to her. She shook him, trying to get some sense into him._

"_Why the hell can't I!" he snapped at her; pushing her hands off his shirt._

"_Because you love me! That's why! You can't just be done with me!" she cried._

"_You're right I _do_ love you. But I'm not so sure if I'm still in love with you" he lied. If he was ever going to leave, he had to make her think he wasn't in love with her anymore._

"_You're lying" she pleaded with him to tell her the truth. She knew that he was still in love with her. A feeling that big didn't just go away from one day to another._

"_Am I? Am I really?" he mocked her, which only triggered her Petrova fire._

"_Yes, you are! You can't just fall out of love with someone from a day to another! That kind of feelings don't just go away that easy" she exclaimed; half crying, half pleading. _Wouldn't you know, right Elena?_ Her conscience teased her._

"_Believe what you want, Elena. I just came upstairs to say goodbye" he knew that the best way to convince her he didn't care anymore was that he acted nonchalant about the situation that was ahead of them._

"_Why?" she asked._

"_I'm leaving" it was so hard for Damon to keep up his charade, but he had to if he wanted to get the hell out of Mystic Falls before the sunset._

"_What do you mean 'you're leaving'? Where are you going?" she demanded to know._

"_I don't know yet" he shrugged his shoulders carelessly._

"_Then why are you leaving?" she once again demanded._

"_Because I have to. You chose Stefan, and I have to give you both the chance to be happy" he stated matter-of-factly while shrugging his shoulders again._

"_What! Don't I get a say in this?" she snapped. Damon only shook his head, no. "What if I don't want you to go?" she defied him, lifting her head._

"_It wouldn't change anything. You chose him, Elena. You can't have both of us. That's why it's called a choice" he teased her, in an attempt to ease the mood._

"_It doesn't matter, Damon! I don't want you to go! I can't lose you! Not you, too! Please, please, please! Don't leave!" she begged him. If she was capable of moving, she would be begging on her knees by now. But she wasn't. Damon leaned into her, and for a second, she thought he was gonna kiss her, but he didn't._

"_Please don't degrade yourself more than you already have. I'm leaving, and that's final! There's nothing you can do about it!" he whispered cruelly in her ear. She gasped and pulled away from him, slapping him with all the strength she could muster in her actual state. Damon glared at her; then he stood up and vanished into thin air._

"_DAMON!" she screamed, waiting for him to come back and tell her that all had been a bad joke and that everything was okay between them. He didn't. "DAMON! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" but he didn't come back. He never came. He was already gone._

_That was when the whole-body wrenching sobs started again and didn't stop. She felt Stefan entering the room, and making his way over to her. He took her in his arms and tried to sooth her. He didn't succeed. Nothing could calm her down after the big loss she just had. Damon leaving had felt worse than the loss she felt when she first realized she was in transition. At least when she learned that, she thought the blue eyed Salvatore would be there to help her. She'd never thought that someday he'd get tired of her hot and cold act. She'd never thought that he'd ever give up on her._

_The sobs kept going on nonstop for a couple of hours. She couldn't believe pain like this existed. She couldn't believe one would survive such devastation and despair… torture. She felt like he had reached through her chest and pulled out her heart, taking it with him; leaving in its place a black hole that consumed everything that made contact with its electromagnetic field. She felt as if any second, said black hole would consume her whole. In some twisted way she felt like she wanted it to. That way all her despair would dissipate and she could forget all about the perverse things she had done in the earth; the wrongdoings she'd done to Damon._

_He was never supposed to leave her; he was her savior; her friend; her best friend; he was her love..._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

* * *

**General POV**

"We do need to talk, and you know it" Elena reprimanded him. She didn't want to have this talk any more than he did, but it was necessary for them to have the closure they needed and move on with their lives and with new people. _Keep dreaming, Elena. Like you would ever be able to move on from him…_

"Fine! You want to talk? Then we'll talk"


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

**General POV**

"Fine! You want to talk? Then we'll talk" Damon snarled at Elena, who was smiling in contentment because she'd gotten what she wanted ever since Damon got back. _With Irina…_

Even the mere thought of the older vampire's name made Elena's blood boil in wrath. She wanted nothing more than to go find the bitch and drive a stake through her heart; or even better, rip off her ugly head. But she wouldn't. She couldn't. She wouldn't be the one to take Damon's happiness away from him; not after all he'd been through for her to get hers. She would never do anything to make Damon suffer -not any more, at least-; like she'd done three years ago. No. She would be the Elena Gilbert everyone –including Damon- knew. The sacrificial, martyr, silent sufferer Elena. She would gather all the courage she had, when three years ago she'd chosen to break Damon's heart over the phone instead of facing him; and she'd suck it up, and be what she'd demanded of Damon what felt like an eternity ago. She'd be the better woman, and let the two lovebirds live in peace.

Damon got frustrated when he realized Elena's head was somewhere else, and he scoffed. What the hell was the matter with her? Ever since he came back, she'd been breathing down his neck, trying to get them to talk. A talk, that might he add, he did not want to have. Yet –as usual-, he'd surrendered to her wishes. And what for? For her to get those dreamy eyes on, and ignore him! She'd pressured him so hard, and now she was acting like she didn't care in the slightest whether they talked or not.

Fuck it! Now _he_ was the onethat wanted to talk, and he didn't give two shits if Elena did or didn't. She'd have to act like the grown-up she was supposed to be by now, and listen intently to all he had to say. Everything he'd wanted to talk about with her for the past three years, he'd say it. He was done bottling up his emotions. Now was the time to spill _everything_out; and he didn't care if he hurt Elena in the process. He was done caring about her feelings.

While all these things rushed through Damon's head. Elena's was focused on one single thing…

* * *

_-FLASHBACK-_

_Elena sighed as she stared off into space. She was somewhere else but there -just like she'd always been for the past six months-; while Stefan was talking nonstop about his last hunting trip. He was telling her how he'd found a bear, and how it really tasted almost like human blood. If Elena was indeed listening to him, she would surely have scoffed._

Of course it didn't resemble human blood in the slightest. No animal blood could ever compare to the deliciousness of the human nectar…

_Stefan stopped talking when he noticed that she wasn't listening to him, and that her head was anywhere but in there with him. But he chose to pretend, just like they had been doing for the last months in their relationship._

Relationship…

_None of them saw their togetherness as a relationship-_relationship. _There were no passionate kisses anymore; their loving gazes into each other's eyes were long gone now; they didn't even talk unless what they felt was necessary to keep it_ _going; the long hugs had been gone for a big while now as well. And let's not even speak of their already boring sex-life. There had been just one single time where they had tried to have sex again. It'd been three months after Damon had gone MIA, and it had started the average way their sex always had. They had kissed, then they'd gazed into one another's eyes; then, they mechanically –although pretending it was passionately- shed off their clothes._

_Once they were totally naked and Stefan was just about to thrust into her; only then did he realize Elena's eyes were unfocused and she seemed to be in another place, and probably with another person. _Most likely your brother…_ his subconscious had whispered maliciously in his ear, but as always –when it came to Damon and Elena's relationship- he chose to ignore it. It was easier that way._

"_Elena?" Stefan had whispered trying to get her attention back. But it'd been useless. "Elena?" his voice had risen. Still she'd paid him no attention. He'd taken hold of both her bare shoulders –ignoring her bare breasts that were begging him to take them into his mouth; but he shook his head to rid of that thought- shaking her, hard to get her to focus on him. The selfish half of his brain had been hoping they could continue what they had started; it had been so long since he last had been laid –it'd been when he was in Tennessee with Klaus. Of course he would never dare to tell Elena that while she was worried sick about his wellbeing, and spending all summer breathing down Damon's neck to get an insight of his last whereabouts; he was out there, living life to its fullest; draining off uncountable innocent girls; fucking around –something he'd always judged Damon for in the past- and getting higher and higher on human blood. No! Elena would never know. _Shecould never know_. But, the other half of his brain –the one that was always fighting the selfish one every step in the way- told him that it was more important to know what was bothering his love. _Like you don't know already…

_When Elena had finally snapped back from her reverie, she'd only told Stefan that she was fine, but not in the mood for sex anymore. And Stefan, being Stefan –although reluctantly-, had said it was fine and they could try on some other day._

_But they hadn't._

_Not even once…_

* * *

_The problem with their relationship was that each of them saw it in a different way. To Stefan, it was the only way he could stay close to his humanity –although his humanity had turned into what he hated the most. What he was. A demon of the night. A cold-blooded monster with no redeeming qualities. A blood sucker. A vampire. A _fucking _vampire-. He feared that if he let her go –even when she was the thing he couldn't stand being himself- he'd go on a killing spree and back to his ripper days. And he absolutely did not want to be "Stefan Salvatore, a.k.a. The Ripper" all over again._

_However, to Elena, it was the only way possible to somehow keep in touch with the other Salvatore –even though she'd never had any actual kind of contact with the blue eyed vampire that haunted her every dream and thought. She felt like by staying close to Stefan, she'd somehow stay a little close to Damon. After all, she was with the other person Damon loved most, besides her-. She was aware that this was wrong –_so wrong-_; she was also aware that this was what she'd wanted to evade by choosing one brother: stringing the other one along. But she simply couldn't help it. Because she also knew that the moment she let go of Stefan, she'd lose the thin connection she had to Damon. She didn't know how, when, or why she'd become that dependent of the blue eyed Salvatore. She only knew she had._

* * *

_They knew it. They both fucking knew it. Their once all-consuming, blinding, and powerful love was gone. Well, not absolutely gone, because they still loved each other deeply. But they were not _in _love with each other. Deep down, they knew this. But they were so afraid of voicing it out loud. Because, what if they did? What would there be left for them if they let the only constant thing that remained in their lives? What would they do if they let it all go? Everything they had done to get things back to how they were supposed to be, it would go be a waste. All the pain. Hers, her friends', Stefan's… Damon's._

_That was what Elena was more concerned about. What would it say about her if she went from one brother to the other? She wished she didn't care what people thought of her -since she was a vampire and all-; but sadly, she did. And even if she didn't, what would she think about herself? Damon was out of her life for good; he was _gone. _She had _removed_ him from her life so she could live happily ever after with Stefan; she had cruelly broken his already-fragile heart, so Stefan's could be safe and away from any kind of suffering. If she let Stefan, and their relationship go; all Damon had gone through because of her rejection would've been in vain._

That _played the bigger part in her reluctance to say goodbye to Stefan. The other part was that she was terrified of how life would be when she finally stopped having a Salvatore by her side._

* * *

**Stefan's POV**

_Seeing Elena so obviously out of it was beyond frustrating_. Even for someone as patient as Stefan…_ He was done being the good, patient, waiting little boyfriend._

_Enough was enough…_

_He'd thought that by giving her the space she needed, she would eventually get over her obsession over his older brother. That was the whole purpose of their now ridiculous agreement; for fuck's sake! He'd thought that she eventually would get over her stupid infatuation with Damon._

Little did he know it wasn't just an infatuation…

_He would come to realize it wasn't that she was simply infatuated with his older brother, but that her feelings towards the blue eyed vampire were deeper than he'd ever imagined them to be._

"_Elena!" it was a first that with his first calling she'd snap out of her thoughts. It must've meant something, right…?_

"_What, Stefan?" she asked in an annoyed tone. God, why couldn't he just leave her alone for one fucking moment! He'd been so suffocating the last six months that she was getting beyond frustrated. She was fucking pissed. He was always breathing down her neck, trying subtly –although it was anything but- to get her to forget about Damon, and try to rebuild their –by now- inexistent relationship. In truth she knew that she was being pretty unfair to him. But at the moment she didn't give a fuck!_

_Moments ago –before Stefan had startled her out of her reverie- she'd been remembering the first time Damon had told her he loved her. And she didn't mean the time when he was dying from Tyler Lockwood's bite. But when he had given her her necklace back, after saving her from Elijah. When he'd told her he thought he didn't deserve her, but that Stefan did. When –against the opinion she had on his selfishness- he'd acted more selfless than any person she'd ever known. Even herself…_

_It was one of two memories that had made an appearance during the time she was mourning Damon's departure; when she had locked herself up in her room; hoping for Damon to return home. Those memories were what kept her going day after day; giving her hope that there was still a little tiny chance he'd return home to her. Of the two, this one was what both shocked and depressed her the most._

_During weeks she had tortured herself with this memory. Every time she remembered it, it was like getting punched in the face, stabbed, and staked; all at once. One would say she'd been a masochist -for bringing back those memories that caused her nothing but excruciating pain-; and she was. It wasn't as if she liked to remember what she'd never gotten to have; but it was because she liked the pain it caused her. She felt like she had to punish herself for breaking Damon's heart._

And she had…

_Right after she'd witnessed the first memory, another one had made its appearance. She'd seen them both the exact same day Damon had departed. She remembered that after Damon walked out of the door, she had passed out. At the time she'd thought it was because of the extenuation of having died the night before; but now she knew that wasn't the case. It was a coping mechanism against the pain Damon's departure had inflicted upon her being. She'd been out of it for a good couple of hours –in which time she'd seen the memory of Damon in her bedroom telling her he loved her-; and when she'd finally woken up again, she'd thought it all had been a dream. She'd jumped out of bed and was ready to speed towards Damon's room. But a sight had stopped her dead on her tracks. For what she could tell, it seemed to be a memory; but she couldn't for the life of her place it. She couldn't remember even having made it._

_In it, there were Damon and her; the day her parents' car drove off of Wickery Bridge. It was the day they had _first_ met. Before she even knew, or cared about Stefan's existence; when she was just an ordinary girl that knew nothing about the supernatural that seemed to love her little, and uneventful town. She remembered that Damon had done nothing to her –which was something pretty odd, since he was a completely different person back then-, but wish her well._

"I want you to get everything you're looking for…"_ he'd told her when she saw her parents' car's highlights. She'd turned to look at the car, and when she returned her head back to the handsome man that had earlier materialized out of nowhere, but it was only to notice that as abruptly as he'd appeared, he was gone._

_Those two memories were the trigger to the despair that had been always there –in her heart- for the following six months, until today._

_She was startled out of her reverie by another shake from Stefan; whose face showed that his patience was wearing thin by the minute. She shook her head and focused on him._

"_Elena. I think it's fucking time we talk" he snapped at her blank face. He hated that ever since _he_had left, her face barely ever showed emotion. It was always expressionless. He absolutely loathed it._

_Elena knew he was shit-serious by his cursing words; Stefan had never been one to curse, but if he did, it must've been pretty important. She gulped when she realized this. She was aware they did need to talk, but that didn't mean she was ready to have _the _talk. She wasn't ready for Stefan to call her out on her latest attitude. She wasn't ready for Stefan to hate her. And she sure as fuck wasn't ready for Stefan to close their chapter. She wasn't ready to say goodbye to their relationship._

"_No, Stefan. It's not. We don't have anything to talk about." She whispered, looking down. She refused to acknowledge the big elephant in the room. If she did, it would be them ending the relationship they'd fought their hardest to save for 3 years; it would be saying _hasta la vista_ to each other…_

"_Yes. We do, Elena!" Stefan snapped, standing up from his position on the bed. He was sick of Elena acting this way; he was sick of how Damon's ghost remained amongst them even when he'd been gone for a long time. But above all, he was sick of how Elena seemed to hold onto it; not letting go. She needed to let go!_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

* * *

**General POV**

Elena shook her head to stop those thoughts. Right now was not the moment to start thinking of the youngest brother when she was with Damon. After their talk, she'd have all the time in the world to remember her break up with the younger Salvatore.

She looked up to Damon's face and saw it was just as Stefan's in her thoughts. It showed that she'd made him lose his patience and now she'd have to pay for it. She saw his eyes had adopted a cold look, and it frightened her. In the past, she'd already been on the receiving end of his coldness, and it wasn't something she'd ever enjoyed. She didn't like being left on the outside of Damon's self-protecting wall. She liked being on the inside, where he showed her what he really was like. Inside that awful wall she could see his true colors; his true self; the part of his being he hid from everyone, and only a few people got to see.

_She used to be part of that 'few'…_

"Damon…"she trailed off, softly; trying to get him to look at her the same warm way he used to the summer they'd spent looking for Stefan. _You're a fool if you think he'll _ever_ look at you that way again…_ her subconscious mocked her. She took a couple of cautious steps forward, closing the distance between them.

"Stop it, Elena!" he snarled, speeding to his not-so-little stash of bourbon. He grabbed an entire bottle, breaking its neck and drinking directly from the shattered glass.

"Stop what?" Elena's tone was still very soft; not wanting to rile him up even more than he already was.

"Giving me those little puppy eyes! You don't get to do that anymore! You lost that right three years ago!" he sped to her so he could yell those words on her face. Elena fought back tears at the reminder of her wrongdoings.

"I know I did!" she admitted. She didn't know where the newfound strength came from, but suddenly her voice had adopted a tone as aggressive as his. She _really_ did not want their first conversation –after three years apart- to go like this. She wanted to tell him just how much she'd missed him; she wanted to tell him she loved him and that the time without him had been worse than hell itself. She wanted to finally be able to hug him again; to _kiss _him again. She wanted him to tell her he'd missed her, too; and that he still loved her just as much as he did before she broke his heart. She wanted him to tell her Irina was nothing else but a distraction. Just like so many others before her. Like Andie; like Rose; like Rebekah; like Sage… But deep down she knew none of this was true. Irina wasn't simply a distraction, a plaything. She felt it in her gut that he _did_ love her. _How much? Did he love Irina as much as he'd loved her?_ That she didn't know; but was dying to find out.

"Are you sure you do? Because it sure as hell seems like you don't, at all" he snapped at her; putting his famous smirk on. Elena wanted to punch it away.

_Just as much as you want to kiss it away…_

"I know I do! I'm very aware of what I've done! I know how much I made you suffer! I also know I deserve every bad thing in the world! I hurt you…" she closed the distance between them, and brought her hands up to cup his God-like face; her thumbs rubbing circles on his stubble cheeks.

"You didn't _hurt_ me! I couldn't care less whether you chose me or not" he scoffed, slapping her hands away from his face. Of course he was lying; and it went against what he promised himself earlier, about voicing all the feelings he'd bottled up. But he realized he couldn't do that. It would make him vulnerable; and he couldn't be vulnerable in front of the girl that had never cared about him one little bit. The girl that had strung him along.

"Come on, Damon! Three years have passed, and you are still this childish person?" she took a step back when their close distance became too much to bear. "You still walk away from your problems, just like you did three years ago" she pleaded with him to open up to her. Truth was, she wasn't aware of the deal the brothers had made.

"_I _walk away from my problems? What about you, huh?" he reproached her, the smirk back in place. It would've accomplished its task, if she didn't know him so well. "If I recall correctly, _you_ were the one that walked away from me, because you were so fucking _scared_ of the unknown. Because you were scared of how life might be if you left Stefan. So, tell me Elena; who's the coward? Who's the one that fucking runs away?" the coldness returned to his eyes, and it froze her how much hatred he saw in those eyes, that in the past had held an ocean of possibilities. The eyes that had once burn like the sun for how much warmth they held. Now they were filled with the ugliest emotion; hate. The life that had once sparkled so bright in them, was now gone. They were dead. _She _had killed them. They held no feelings for her. Witnessing this finally spilled the tears she was trying so hard to fight.

It was so hard for Damon to keep his cold façade on. Especially when he'd seen her crying. He hated when she cried; and he hated it even more when he was the cause of her tears. But he wouldn't budge. He said he'd spill his emotions out, no matter who got hurt in the process.

"I know what I did! You don't have to rub it in my face!" she screamed at him, wiping away her tears. She was still the same Elena Gilbert she'd been as a human. She was still stubborn, and had a pride the size of the Everest. She refused to let Damon see her crying over him.

"Did you ever feel something for me at all? I bet not! How could good-girl Elena gilbert feel anything for her boyfriend's evil older brother, right? Am I wrong?!" his face was contorted in a psychotic way. The veins around his eyes were pulsating; his eyes kept turning from blue, to blood red; and his fangs elongated and retracted multiple times. It was a very scary sight. And Elena would have been terrified, if it wasn't because it was Damon Salvatore. She knew he'd never hurt her.

_Basing on his previous behavior, I'd say otherwise…_

Elena only shook her head, denying his statement, speeding to the other side of the room.

"Yes! You are!" she yelled from across the room. But Damon ignored her; too riled up to really care about anything she said.

"I bet I was just a plaything to you; wasn't I? It was a game to you; wasn't it? My love, it never mattered to you, did it? You wanted to see if you could get the evil Salvatore brother to change for you; and once he had, you'd just dump him for his pathetic younger brother! Am I wrong?!" a single tear made its way down his cheek; signaling the pain he was trying to hide but both of them knew he was feeling.

"Of course not! I did feel something for you! I cared about you! I still do!"

"Care" he scoffed. "Yeah, you've already told me that" his face was sour, and it broke her heart that he didn't believe her.

"I don't just care about you! I lo-" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Before Damon interrupted her mid-sentence.

"Don't you dare say 'you love me'!" he snarled at her, throwing his glass into the fireplace; causing it to burn brighter.

"Why not?!" she demanded, crossing her arms and tilting her hip. Her eyebrows rose in challenge.

"I don't want you to!" he snapped, turning his back to her.

"You've always wanted me to say it!" she snorted.

"There might've been a time where I would've gladly died just to hear those words coming out of your mouth-"

"What's changed?" she interrupted him just like he had.

"That time is gone. I have someone else in my life. Someone I love, and she loves me back. She doesn't see my love as a burden." He hissed venomously.

"Neither do I! Don't you dare say that! Because we both know it's not true! It's not a burden!" she looked down.

"You know where the problem lays, Elena?" Damon asked bitterly; he gave her no time to answer him. "You never let Stefan go. Even after everything he did to you, you still held onto him with all your being. It didn't matter if he told you that you were nothing but a human blood bag; or if he bit you; or if he almost drove you off of the same bridge your parents died on. No… it didn't matter. It never mattered to you that every time he rejected you, you came to me… giving me false hope. It never mattered to you that I would've done every-fucking-thing you asked me for. It didn't matter if you hurt me in the process, as long as I helped you get your _epic love _back. That's why my love was never enough for you, nor will it ever be!" Elena thought she could hear his voice actually breaking a little, but when she lifted her head to look at him, all she could see was coldness on his entire expression; proving her wrong.

"Will you _fucking _stop?!" she screamed; her anger was slowly drifting away, leaving only despair in its path. "Don't you see it's hurting me?" her voice shook. She'd thought her broken voice would snap something inside of Damon. The 'something' that had always softened at the sight of her tears and pain. But sadly, it didn't. His impassive face was still on, and it showed no signs of coming off. For the millionth time that day, her heart broke. She had already resigned that she'd let him go, and let him have a chance at happiness –even though she wished with all her being it could be with her; she knew perfectly well it could never be that way-.

"I think we missed the part where I'm supposed to care" his nostrils flattered; his upper lip retracted, showing his left fang.

"This isn't you, Damon! You're better than this" her voice was pleading with him. She wanted him to be the same caring, loving, and sweet Damon he was three years ago. But he was proving that that was nearing the impossible line.

"Stop talking about me like you know me, Elena. You. Don't. Know. Me! I'm not the same love-struck fool you think you knew back then. That Damon is gone! Stop waiting for him to come back, because he won't. That Damon is dead; _you_ made sure of it!" there was what Damon always did when someone pushed him too much: he lashed out.

"No, he's not!" Elena cried. She couldn't believe what he'd just said. She knew she was the responsible for him going back to his old ways, but she'd never thought he'd say it out loud.

"Who are you trying to convince? Me, or yourself?" Damon spat, with a self-reassured smirk, meant to cover his agony.

"I'm not trying to convince anyone! That Damon still exists; deep down, you know he does!" she saw him scoff. "I'll prove it."

Just as those words had left her mouth she closed the distance that separated them. She cupped his face with both her hands, joining their lips together. At first, Damon tried to break free from her –really, he did-, but he couldn't. He didn't know why, though. Well, truth be told, he did; but he refused to acknowledge that fact. He was still struggling with himself, when he felt Elena's mouth sucking on his bottom lip, asking for entrance. At that moment all notion of good of bad left his mind. All he could focused on was the girl that was now exploring every millimeter of his mouth; the girl he'd thought he'd forgotten completely about, but in reality knew he hadn't.

The fireworks burst brighter than on the night of the 4th of July. The butterflies they both felt threatened to break free from their stomachs. A bomb could've exploded right next room; a volcano could've made eruption right aside them; the earth could've stopped spinning; and they wouldn't have noticed, nor cared. The only thing they cared about was the passionate kiss they were sharing at this moment.

Their tongues battled for dominance, neither one of them willing to lose. They kept going at it; their tongues battling restlessly. It was the perfect bittersweet goodbye kiss; and they knew it. They knew this kiss meant goodbye; and not hello. Things were too fucked up around them for it to be a hello, to be a new beginning.

Elena couldn't believe that she'd gotten to kiss him one more time. And what a kiss it was… She felt her knees turning into jelly, and if Damon wasn't holding her so tightly against his oh so hard body, she felt like she would actually fall to the ground. A year ago; hell, a week ago, she would've gladly let anyone drive a stake through her heart if it meant getting to see Damon just once more –even if it was just for one second-. But now, she hadn't only seen him, but she was kissing the hell out of him. She hadn't envisioned their first kiss, after she told him she loved him, to be like this one -full of hurt, and angst, and angriness-; however, she wasn't complaining. And it wasn't like he'd let her say those three words out loud…

Damon was thinking of how even after everything she'd put him through, he could still enjoy the feeling of her lips against his. He knew he shouldn't, but he did nonetheless. He knew he must've been fucked up if he was enjoying it, but at the time he didn't give a fuck. This was what his body had been craving for the last three years –not that he'd ever admit it, but still-. He wanted to stop thinking and let himself get lost in the feeling of her lips against his, so he shook those thoughts out of his head.

Elena felt him cupping her face, lifting it a little so he could have better access to her mouth, she happily complied. Her hands had found their way underneath his shirt and were now feeling the hard muscles of his stomach, –the muscles same muscles she'd felt the first time_she_ kissed _him_- his hard abs were drool worthy –which she'd done more than once in her dreams-. Their kissing was escalating out of control fast; her hands were now at his hard pecs, enjoying the feeling of the hard muscle beneath them; her fingers were tweaking his -by now- hard and sensitive nipples, which caused Damon to let out a groan of pleasure. His hands hadn't stayed at his sides, either. They'd found their way south, and were now cupping her ass; bringing her closer. He had brought her so close to him that she could feel the sign of his arousal poking her core; and it made a river flow down her folds. Damon could smell her arousal and it turned him on even more than he already was. His erection was rock hard by now, and it was begging to be freed from its confines. And he would have done exactly that, had the image of Irina's disappointed face not entered his mind.

The image worked perfectly at making him feel like earth's shittiest walker ever. With all his strength, he pushed Elena off him; and wiped his lips with the back of his hand, disgusted with himself. _God, what the fuck is wrong with you! You have a girlfriend! Irina, you remember her? The girl that helped you get over the selfish bitch, whose face you just sucked…?_

"You can't kiss me again" Damon hissed, angrier with himself than with her. "It's not right" Elena couldn't believe how bad those words stung. It was all a _déjà vu_. _Guess this is what he felt when you said these same words to him…_ her conscience whispered maliciously.

"No, it's right. It's just not right now" she repeated the same words Damon had answered her with the night Stefan tried to drive her off of Wickery Bridge. Damon shook his head enraged; then, he turned his back to her, making his way to the door.

Elena's heart broke all over again, watching his retreating form, walking out on her once again.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

**General POV**

Night came, and along came the solitude Elena needed to think of things over. For starters, she needed some space to make peace with the fact that all the silly illusions she'd made for when Damon finally came back home, were now shot straight to hell. She still couldn't believe what she'd done a few hours ago. _Had it been mere hours?_ To her, it seemed like a millennium had passed already.

Now that it was all said and done, she needed to think about what she would do with her life now that it had no meaning anymore. Yes, you heard right; it didn't have any meaning, and it was because Damon had been the center of her universe for the past three years; and she had made it her only goal in life to find him and bring him back to her. But now it was all gone. He didn't want to come back to her; in fact, he wanted nothing to do with her. And it hurt! It hurt like a bitch. She started recalling the scene that had taken place hours ago, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. It wasn't like her to go around degrading herself, begging for what was left of a love she had made sure to destroy. _It wasn't like her at all…_ Along with the embarrassment came humiliation and anger. Humiliation, over him walking out on her, _again._ And anger, also for the same reason but, more over the fact that _he_ had kissed her back just as passionately as she had.

She knew she had to be a fool to believe that just one single kiss would be enough to mend the pieces of both their broken hearts; and the trust they'd both broken by a lot of different actions.

She knew it wasn't the solution to all their problems. The kiss wasn't meant for that; in fact, it wasn't meant for anything. It was just her, doing what her heart wanted her to do, for once in her life. And even though it had felt amazing to let go for once, the cruel aftermath had been the hard reminder of why she always chose to follow her head, and not act out on her emotions. It was the wake-up call she needed to realize how pathetic she'd been begging for the leftovers that weren't even meant for her to have anymore.

She didn't know what to do with herself now that all the confrontation with Damon had finally happened; and he'd confirmed the fears that had threatened to take over her heart during his long absence: he had gotten over her, and had skipped the chapter of their story.

She knew she had to resign herself and try to get over him, as well. And in order to do that, there were a few things she needed to do first.

* * *

Damon was laying on his king sized bed after the little one-on-one with the Doppelganger. He was laying alone on the big bed; Irina had yet to make an appearance, and he had to admit he was starting to get a little anxious. He wondered what she might've been doing since she stormed out of the house after his stupidity in that same bedroom. _Nothing good_… his conscious whispered inside his head. Damon had to agree. Nothing good could come when Irina was upset or angry; and in this case, she was both.

He heard footsteps coming towards his room, and thought it was Irina; his body immediately relaxed knowing that she was back. He heard the door being opened, and closed, but he couldn't hear the footsteps anymore. They had paralyzed on the doorstep and he was left wondering why.

Seeing that she wasn't going to go to him, Damon opened his eyes and was shocked to see it wasn't Irina at the door, but Elena Gilbert herself. _'Ugh' _he groaned inwardly.

His gaze was fixed on her face, trying to find her eyes. The same eyes that were hungrily and shamelessly, roaming up and down his body. He wondered why; until he remembered that he was laying on bed, in his birthday suit; in all of his naked glory. Not only that; but, the blanket that was supposed to be covering his _glory_ had slipped past his hips, showing him, _all of him, _to the world. He cleared his throat, and her gaze immediately went up to his.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed in discontentment.

"I…Hmm, I was… I… I just…what?" she stuttered, her cheeks red by having been caught ogling at him.

"What are you doing in m-"

"Shut up!" Elena stopped him, speeding to the bed and climbing onto it, onto him. As soon as she was on top of him, her mouth claimed his.

Damon was surprised when he found himself kissing her back, and even more when he felt _him_ harden. Her tongue darted out to lick his lower lip, begging for entrance into his mouth, which he gladly gave her. This kiss was just like last one, angry, rough, hungry, passionate,_consuming_… His tongue found hers, and both their tongues danced together, battling against each other for dominance. Neither of them wanted to lose, so they kept fighting their hardest.

Damon was mad, livid. Had he not just told her today not to kiss him again?! Yet there she was, on top of his naked and hard form (pun intended), moaning like a dog in a heat. But, although he was mad at her for daring to kiss him again, he couldn't find the strength to push her off of him, and stop this heavenly moment he had waited ages for.

As Damon said, Elena was moaning like a dog in a heat. She couldn't help it; Damon was underneath her, kissing her back, and might she add _naked._ She'd waited so long for this to happen that at that moment her panties were soaked, not only soaked, but almost _dripping_with her womanly juices. She was so wet that she felt almost as if the Amazonas was flowing through her vagina.

Damon could smell her arousal and her want for him, and it turned him on even more than he already was; his cock was painfully hard, begging to be inside that heavenly pussy he knew Elena had. Basing by its celestial smell, being inside her, and having her walls hugging his massive dick, should feel like heaven itself.

Elena's mind was going through similar thoughts, how good it would feel to have that huge member inside her dripping pussy. And she meant it when she said it was _huge_, it was at least ten inches long, and three six inches in girth. She _craved_ to feel it inside of her; she drooled just by imagining it.

"Damon" she whispered in a needy voice.

It seemed to work bringing Damon out of his lust-filled thoughts.

"What are you doing?" he spat.

He blinked a few times trying to compose himself, but it proved to be futile, because he could still feel her heat on his leg, and her smell had invaded his mind. She felt her mouth on his neck, and she started leaving wet open-mouthed kiss all over the column of his throat. His cock hardened even more, if it was possible.

"Shh… Stop talking" Elena whispered into the crook of his neck, licking the spot she'd whispered it into. "We need this, Damon" she stated hotly, her mouth still nestled on his neck. "I just have to have you once; get you out of my system. Just then I will be able to let you go" Elena begged, lifting her head to look into his eyes. He saw the plea in her eyes, and gulped. How on earth could he ever say 'no' to her, when she was looking at him with _those _eyes? He shook his head, trying to talk himself out of what he was about to do. _Don't do it! Don't do it! Don't do it! Don't do it! Do. Not. Do. IT! _His subconscious was screaming at him. But it was already too late. His hand had already flown to her neck; his mouth had already descent to hers; and their tongues were already battling for dominance.

During their passionate kisses, Damon realized Elena was a little too dressed for what they were doing -although she was only wearing a shirt (which he realized was one of his, but chose not to comment on it), and her black lace panties, which were almost see-through-; but compared to him that was wearing _nothing_, she was way too overdressed.

He grabbed the top button of his button-up shirt that she was wearing, and started undoing the buttons; leaving a hot trail of open-mouthed kisses on her bra-less chest. Once the shirt was open, he took it off her, throwing aside, not caring where it landed.

With the shirt off, he could appreciate the magnificence that was Elena Gilbert. He brought his hand up to one of her rock hard nipples, tweaking it between his fingers. He heard her gasp of pleasure and smirked; then, he brought his mouth down to it, and blew all over it. When the bundle hardened even more, he took it in his mouth, sucking hard on it.

Elena was gasping in pleasure while Damon made love to her breast; it was a deliciously slow torture. She felt him switching to her other nipple, and taking the one he had in his mouth in his fingers. It went on like that for a long time; him switching nipples, and massaging the other with his fingers, not ignoring either of them.

After a good fifteen minutes of the delicious torture, she was twisting around as she felt her orgasm approaching. It was so intense, it left her vision blurry, and her whole body shaking.

"Now, I'm going to rock your world" he whispered into her right nipple. He gave it a last lap before standing up on his knees to take off her now ruined panties; her pussy was glistening for how wet it was.

Damon drooled over the deliciousness before him. Her little snatch was so tight that he thought his cock would never make it inside without tearing her walls.

He brought his fingers to her labia and softly pinched it; as he did that a new river of wetness came rushing out of her tight hole.

"Don't tease me!" she snapped at him. She was already wet for him and didn't want any more foreplay. But Damon ignored her; bringing his mouth to her clit, he lapped at it like a man stranded in a desert for weeks, without water. He tasted so sweet that he wished nothing more than to be able to drink her tasty juices for all eternity.

The teasing, to Elena, felt like forever. Damon had done all kind of things to her womanhood. He'd already made her come so many times she thought she was going to pass out. He'd fingered her; he'd tongue-fucked her.

Finally, he position his massive cock at her entrance and, looking into her eyes, he penetrated her slowly, half-inch by half-inch. When he was finally inside of her to the hilt, he kissed her. So tenderly it almost brought tears to her eyes, had it not been for the immense pleasure of having him deep inside her, she'd be sobbing by now.

Damon couldn't believe how heavenly it felt to finally be inside her. It was everything he'd imagined it to be, and more. Her walls held his member so perfectly it seemed they were made to be in that position forever. _Made to be together…_ A sing-song said voice in his head. Her inner walls were so tight and wet he wanted to forever be nestled inside that slice of heaven.

He started to move his hips, thrusting his member in and out of her pussy. His pace was slowly fastening, until he'd found the perfect pace. Elena thrust her hips up in time with his hips. The tempo was so perfect it soon had them reaching their blissful end.

When Elena did, she kissed him and whispered into his mouth:

"I love you!"

The confession was exactly what Damon needed to reach him momentum. As his seed was shot deep inside her womb, he'd said what Elena had been dying to hear.

"I love you, too"

* * *

Damon woke up with a gasp.

_God, did that feel real!_ he thought.

He sat up on his bed and was shocked to feel a pool of wetness on his pajama bottoms –the only piece of clothing he wore to sleep-. If he'd been able to, he would've blushed. _Had he just cum in his sleep? Had he just had a wet dream? What the actual fuck! He wasn't a fucking horny teenager!_ He was livid. Fuming, even.

He could just _not_ believe that dream had taken place, and worse that he'd said those words, he was not even sure, were true.

Why had it felt so real? Why had he said those words he knew weren't real?

He didn't know!

People say, dreams reflect what the soul really feels; but he did _not_ love her anymore, so that didn't apply for him.

Then suddenly he had the answer!

That was the only explanation for that absurd dream of his. Of course! How didn't he realize sooner? It was all Elena's fault!

That little bitch!

* * *

Elena was in the room she'd moved her things into. She was rummaging through the drawers in the chest.

On the bed, there was a duffle bag, which was half filled. There were just a few thing she had yet to pack up.

Yes, she was packing. She'd realized that if she wanted to get over Damon, she needed to put as much distance between them as she could. She knew it was coward-ish to run away in the middle of the night, but she needed to. She knew that if she saw Damon, she'd change her mind and stay, torturing herself over what she wanted, but couldn't have. She shoved, the last t-shirts she had in the drawers, into the duffle bag.

When she was about to zip-up the zipper, she was suddenly pushed against the wall, with an unbreakable hold on her throat. She was lucky she didn't need to breathe; otherwise she would've died of asphyxia. Her fangs elongated, caused by her now sharpened sense of self-preservation. She bared her fangs at her attacker. They immediately retracted when she saw who her attacker was. Damon.

"Damon! What the hell!" she hissed, trying to break free from his hold, but it was impossible, he was older, thus stronger.

"That's what I said! What the hell!" he spat in her face, his grasp on her throat tightening. "Why the fuck did you do what you just did?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, really confused. She hadn't done anything; well, she _had_ kissed him, but it was a little late to matter, anyway. "What did I do?!"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Elena! You know exactly what you did!" he was seeing red, because of how mad he was.

"No, I don't! Because I didn't do anything!" Elena yelled at him, she was getting just as furious as Damon was.

"Oh, so you didn't get into my head and mess with my dreams?!" he demanded.

"What! I did not! Even if I did, which I didn't, why does it madden you so much, huh? Are you not a master at messing with people's head?" the color left his face, and she knew that he knew what she meant.

"I don't want to discuss this with you. I just want to know why you messed with my dreams?" he spat.

"What makes you think I did?" Elena challenged.

"Because in that dream, I did things I would never do, and said things I would never mean" Damon hissed.

"It seems, you would!" he tightened the grasp, and she gasped. "Listen to me, and listen carefully, Damon" she looked him in the eyes, trying to get him to see she was being honest. "I did _not_ mess with your head! Not everyone is like you!" she spat, and finally succeeded at breaking free.

She sped to the bed, and zipped-up the bag. She threw it over her shoulder and made her way to the door.

It was only then that Damon noticed that the room was pretty much empty. And seeing her throwing the bag over her shoulder was like a stake through his undead heart.

"What are you doing?" he demanded when she was already at the doorway.

"There's not enough room in this house for us. We cannot live under the same roof" she turned to leave, but when she'd crossed the doorway, she turned around and had a determined look upon her face.

"And about your 'dream'? I meant what I said, Damon. I didn't compel it upon you. It was just your subconscious telling you what you're afraid to confront" He refused to believe what she said. _There had to be another explanation, right?_ She gave him a sad smile that told him she seemed to know what his dream was about. She disappeared out of his sight, and seconds later he heard the front door being opened and closed.

He stared off to where she was standing moments ago, trying to find an explanation for the burning he felt in his heart. He found none.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

**GENERAL POV**

Three days had passed since that eventful night when Elena took her stuff and took off. Nobody had seen or heard of her; it was as if earth had swallowed her whole, not leaving any remaining of the latest doppelganger. She didn't answer her phone or the messages they'd left her –they'd at least left her 700 voicemails, none of which was answered-.

Damon pretended he wasn't worried about her, but he wasn't aware that he wasn't as good at pretending as he thought he was. He discretely would sneak up on his brother when he and Elena's friends tried anything on their power to contact the one that got away. They always failed, though. He tried that his sneaking wasn't that obvious, he didn't want to risk Irina finding out about it. His relationship with the Russian was better now that Elena was out of the picture.

Speaking of Irina, she was lying beside him and visibly spent, blissfully naked after a night of endless sex. He would never admit this aloud, but this was, and had always been his coping mechanism.

He was looking up to the ceiling when he felt his girlfriend stir, and moan besides him. He turned his head slightly to look at her, and his eyes found her impossibly violet ones, and he found himself getting lost in them.

"Good morning" she grinned lovingly at him, and he couldn't help but to return her smile, with a lopsided one of his own.

"Good morning to you, too" he smirked and leaned in to peck her pouting lips. All too soon, he felt her responding to his kisses, and they found themselves into a mess of tangled sheets, and limbs, on his large bed. The only sounds in the room were hers and his moans of pleasure.

It was needless to say, that they would not be coming out of his room for a little while.

* * *

Meanwhile downstairs, in the parlor, there were two unwilling pair of hears, that were growing more annoyed by the minute, by the pleasure-filled moans and groans that were coming from the blue eyed Salvatore's bedroom.

Seriously? Elena was missing and he couldn't stop being a man-whore? Didn't he love her? Wasn't he supposed to be as anxious as them about her well-being? But, basing on his recent bedroom activities, it seemed like he didn't, and he wasn't.

Caroline really didn't understand what Damon saw in that bitch. How could he be so stupid, to change Elena for someone like that Russian girl?

Stefan was disgusted by his brother. Was he that self-centered as to care more about his _needs_, than about Elena's life? He thought Damon loved Elena just as much as she seemed to love him. But his last behavior had obviously proven him wrong.

He hadn't, not even once, stopped by and ask if they'd made a little progress on 'Operation: Finding Elena'. He was acting like he didn't care in the slightest whether she appeared or died. And maybe he didn't…

Was it possible, that after everything Damon had done in the past to protect Elena, now he simply didn't care anymore? Was it possible to do that? To care about someone so much that you'd be willing to die for them, and then just simply didn't care about them, simply give up? Stefan didn't think it was possible; at least not for him. But perhaps, after all Damon had suffered in his life; the rejection and hatred their father always expressed towards him, Katherine's betrayal, and his own; and most lately, Elena's. Perhaps, it was just too much. There was just so much hurt a man can take.

Stefan's and Caroline's heads turned to the direction of the grand staircase, where the devil himself was climbing down shirtless, with a thoroughly-fucked looking Irina hot in his tails. She was only wearing Damon's missing shirt, and it seemed like nothing more. Her hair was a mess, and she was sporting a smug smirk, like the cat that caught the canary and ate it.

They stooped hot in their tracks when five faces turned simultaneously to look at them, judgingly, and with different kind of frowns upon them.

"Baby bro, Blondie, Judgy, Mutt, Wolf Boy" Damon acknowledged them with a smug smirk of his own.

"And he's back" Caroline sarcastically said, with a look of self-righteousness that resembled Stefan's a lot, if Damon might say so.

"No need to get your panties in a twist, Blondie" he said back. "What's the commotion about, little bro?" Damon addressed Stefan, although he was pretty aware of why they all were there.

"You know what this is about, Damon" Stefan deadpanned. "Don't think I didn't notice you intruding in our conversations, for the last three days" Damon hated seeing that smug smirk on his brother's face; it was reserved for his own.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Damon dismissed his brother's statement. His body tensed a little when he felt Irina walking further into the room. All eyes were on her, with no-concealed hostility. She just shrugged and made her way to the wet bar, pouring herself, and Damon, a drink from the decanter.

"Can we just focus on the task at hand? Then you can keep your pretending game, Damon" Bonnie spoke to the shirtless vampire. "While we are here fighting over stupid things, Elena's life might be in danger." This seemed to grab the Russian vampire's attention, because her head snapped in the direction of Bonnie's at the mention of Elena's name. She laughed coldly, and its coldness sent chills down all their spines, but Damon's. He had already heard that coldness from her before, so it was nothing new to him.

"Are you seriously making so big of a deal out of her little disappearance?" she scoffed. "Perhaps she's just tired of her pathetic life here, pining after Damon, like the low life she is" the cold laugh returned. "Or maybe she's dead in an alley somewhere, which would definitely make my life and Damon's a lot easier" she smirked and looked at the glaring faces of Caroline and Bonnie.

"Watch your mouth" Caroline snarled, taking a few menacing steps forward, to which Irina had to laugh.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wouldn't be too confident, if I were you. Caroline, is it?" she warned. "You wouldn't last two seconds against me. I have eight hundred years on you, little brat." Irina spat.

"Well, those 800 years didn't stop Elena when she knocked you out, did they?" it was Bonnie that spoke this time.

"Oh yes, the witch friend" Irina's cold eyes were placed on Bonnie's right now, and Bonnie felt cold all over. "Don't you think I've forgotten about the little stunt you put up in Damon's room. I would be a little more careful, Witch. You're already on my bad side, and let me tell you, it is not a good place to be. Unless, you want to end up like you doppelganger little friend" she spat.

Out of nowhere, Irina felt her brain burning, but this time around she was prepared. She would not be humiliated again. Before anyone realized what was happening, Irina sped towards Bonnie, standing too close to Bonnie's comfort. Bonnie was petrified; she didn't understand what'd happened. How was it that the Russian was still standing? The aneurism she'd given her was at least as potent as the previous one she'd inflicted upon her, and it had easily knocked her out. So, why hadn't it worked this time? She was beyind scared right now.

"You little bitch" Irina spat, before plunging her fangs into the witch's neck. She sucked like she never had before; each gulp gave her an amazing feeling of power like never before. There had only been a few times when she'd fed from a witch, and each of them weren't as powerful as this little one. However, before she could continue enjoying the deliciousness of the witch's blood, she felt movement behind her. She removed her fangs from Bonnie's neck and turned her head back; she saw the blonde vampire tensing her muscles to jump at her, but before she could do so, Irina's voice resonated through the room.

"Stay where you are, Blondie. Don't try anything stupid, or I will break her little neck like a twig. You know I can" she smirked at all the occupants of the room. She looked down to the petrified girl in her arms, and her smirk widened when she saw the pure horror in her eyes.

Bonnie was so scared that she found herself completely unable to move; she couldn't move one single muscle of her body. She couldn't even remember the right spell to knock down vampires.

Damon hadn't moved an inch from his original position, and was watching amused the chaos his girlfriend was causing, and couldn't help but feel pride swelling in his chest. She was doing what he'd always wanted, but never dared doing, out of respect and his love for Elena. There were time in the past when he wished he could just kill those annoying, and judging friends of Elena's, but of course he was too much of a love struck fool, to actually put Elena through that, and risk her hating him forever.

Stefan was beyond horrified; he couldn't believe that she had just done that. But horror wasn't the only emotion running through him right at the moment. Anger, confusion, rage, sadness… Anger and rage over what she'd done. Confusion about what she was talking about, what'd happened in Damon's room that had made her so angry. Sadness over the poor choice his brother had made; choosing that monster over Elena? What was wrong with him?

Caroline's face was contorted in rage. Oh, she hadn't just _done_ that. That stupid whore! She wanted nothing more than to call her bluff and plunge herself at the stupid vampire, preferably with a stake in her hand, with which she could get rid of her. Yes, she wanted to do just that. But she was aware that it was pretty much a suicide mission. Irina was faster than her, and it was most likely that she would be the one to end with the stake through her heart. After she'd have broken Bonnie's neck. No. She could not do what she was _dying_ to do.

The other faces around the parlor were similar to those of Stefan and Caroline, but neither one of them dared to call the Russian's bluff. They knew she _wasn't _bluffing.

"Thought so" she smirked, grabbing the witch's shoulders and turning her to look at her. "Hopefully, you've learned your lesson. Next time, I won't be as kind" she spat, pushing Bonnie's body to the floor. She sped to Damon, took his hand and dragged him upstairs to his room. Their drinks forgotten on the coffee table, but they didn't care.

* * *

Matt was the one, who helped Bonnie clean up her wounds. Given that he was the only human, amongst a mass of vampires and hybrids.

Once Bonnie's neck was clean, Matt bandaged it up. Bonnie had refused to let Caroline heal her with her blood. They both walked into the parlor, and a silence settled upon them. They wanted to address what'd happened but decided against it; it was already done, and their main focus was to find a way to reach to Elena. So they focused all the attention on that task.

Stefan had his phoned glued to his ear, calling her cellphone nonstop, hoping that she'd answer at least one of his calls, or even respond to one of his voicemails. Caroline and Tyler had left the house to go and rummage around the entirety of the town, hoping to find her somewhere. Matt was doing the same as Stefan, and had his own phone glued to his ear. On the coffee table, there was a laptop, where Jeremy's worried face was showing through the magic of Skype. He'd been online since he found out about Elena, and the only time when he disconnected the communication was when he had to take care of his human's necessities. Other than that, he'd been glued to his chair in front of his laptop.

Bonnie was currently looking through her grimoire for a locator spell that could work on vampires –the one she'd always used didn't work in this case, because Elena was technically dead; and that spell tracked the living element of the object it was looking for-. So far, it was being a complete failure. She kept going through the battered pages of her grimoires, hoping that she could find something that could be helpful.

Caroline and Tyler came back from their trip, and upon entrance, and basing on their faces, it was clear it was been unsuccessful.

"We couldn't find her anywhere" Caroline's voice only served to confirmed what they'd already deduced.

"It's like earth has swallowed her whole" Tyler spoke with tiredness in his voice.

They were beginning to lose faith and it wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. They needed to stay optimistic, if they ever wanted to find Elena. But it was proving to be almost impossible.

"Here!" Bonnie's scream filled the tense-filled room. Just as they thought there was nothing else to try, Bonnie had given them back the faith they'd lost moments ago.

The whole gang gathered around the newly joyous witch, and looked at her expectantly. She just smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The rest lifted an eyebrow, and waited for her to tell them what she'd found; she didn't.

"Well?" Caroline asked annoyed by her best friend's silence.

"I've finally found a spell that could, or could not be useful" she looked at them.

"And?" Stefan pressured, with his brow furrowed.

"It's not gonna be easy…"

* * *

**ELENA'S POV**

Elena woke up, screaming, to find her body in flames. Literally, on flames. What was happening to her? Why did she feel like she might burst at any time? Why was there actual smoke coming out of her burning flesh? Why was her skin burning at all?

So many questions, however she could seem to concentrate enough to find an answer to any one of them. The burning in her flesh was too painful; the only thing she could focus on was that. It felt like a million blades were plunged into her, at the same time. She had never felt agony like this. It was that: excruciating, tormenting, and absolute agony. She knew she was screaming to the top of her lungs, but she simply couldn't concentrate on it, she could hear nothing.

Suddenly, the burning stopped, but the agony didn't. The pain remained on her, while her skin tried its hardest to heal itself. She didn't understand why it hadn't healed by now. It usually healed in a matter of seconds; a few minutes top, if she wasn't feeding regularly. And she had fed last night. _Or so she thought…_

Little did she know that she had been out of it for three days…

Elena tried to lift her arms to inspect the healing process, but found herself unable to do so. Her wrists, along with her forearms, were restrained by what she assumed was pure steel. She also tried to move her legs, but found them in a similar situation. She couldn't move any part of her body, but her hands, feet, and head. She lifted her head, and inspected herself. She was bound by steel restrains to what seemed to be a metal kind of bed. She looked at her hands, and frowned when she couldn't spot her daylight ring. _Where is it?_ she asked herself.

All of a sudden, the burning feel came back, with a vengeance. It felt just like the first time, but she couldn't help but feel like it was worse this time. She scream with all her being. Asking for someone to stop her agony.

"STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!" she repeated it like a mantra. "OH GOD, STOP!" it seemed like this last sentence worked because the burning stopped again.

She took a breath of relief, but she wished she never did. The oxygen she was breathing was burning her from inside out. She cried out again, and coughed. The more she breathed, the more it burned. She decided to stop breathing altogether; she didn't need to, anyway. When that new torment finally stopped, she did feel relieved.

She heard a chuckle from the shadows and her tortured body tensed. She sensed the danger, and tried to break free from the restrains, but it proved to be useless; they were far too tight around her, and she couldn't move a millimeter. She struggled against them, but she was only hurting herself.

The chuckle was louder this time, and she turned her head towards where it was coming from; but she could see nothing. The shadows were too dark, and even with her vampire vision, the most she could see, was a silhouette. A male silhouette. It was tall, and broad. But that was as far, as her vision could do in the darkness of the shadows.

"Who is there?" she didn't even recognize her own voice. It was too raspy, and too weak. If she wasn't sure it was her, who was talking, she'd thought it was someone else.

The silhouette moved at vampire speed around the room. It was a blur, and it moved faster than what Elena was comfortable with. She gulped when she realize, it must be a _very_ old vampire. _He_ –whoever _he _was- didn't stop racing the little space.

"Who is there? Who are you?" now her voice was a mix of fear, confusion, and anger. _Who was this man and why did have her restrained to a bed? Who did he think he was...?_

Her questions, however, were answered when the man stopped speeding, and stood right in front of her, but she still couldn't see his face.

"Hello, _Elena…"_


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

**General POV**

"So, what do we need?" Stefan pressed as soon as the words left Bonnie's mouth. He was desperate, and was willing to do _anything_ if it meant Elena would be back. Although he wasn't _in _love with her anymore –he'd come to the realization that he wasn't in love with _Elena_, but with everything she stood for, before she was turned-, he still loved her.

Jeremy had to disconnect the communication, because he had to do his humans necessities.

"Only two things. One of them shouldn't be hard to come by; but I'm not so sure about the other…" Bonnie trailed off, hesitantly.

"What is it?" Caroline jumped in the conversation, eager to know what she could do to help bring Elena back.

"First, we need a map" she informed the gang.

"Wasn't that obvious…" Tyler threw in sarcastically. Bonnie paid him no attention; still too worried about the other element they still needed.

"Then we need the blood of one of Elena's family" she grimaced when she said this. "A while ago, this shouldn't have been such a big deal, but seeing the way things are at the moment, I don't think it's gonna be that simple." Bonnie paced back and forth the length of the parlor, anxiously twiddling her fingers.

"I don't think it's too difficult, we could get Jeremy to send us a vial of his blood, or something" Caroline's hopeful voice stated.

"It's not that simple, Caroline" Bonnie turned to look at her, and sent her a worried expression. "Jeremy is not her family" her face was expressionless as she said this.

"What do you mean he's not family? I mean, I get it, he's not technically her brother, but at least he's her cousin. It's gotta help for something, right?" Caroline ranted upon seeing her best friend's semblance.

"No, I mean, he's not _family_, at least not anymore. She's dead, remember? Their family connection vanished the moment she chose to go through her transition." Bonnie stated, and started pacing again.

"If that's true, then there's nothing we can do. Elena is a vampire, therefore she has no family" Caroline deadpanned, more than a little disappointed.

"Yes, she does" Bonnie muttered under her breath, continuing to pace.

"C'mon Bonnie, we're going in circles here. Can you make your point?" Matt spoke for the first time; his voice was a mix between worry, exasperation, and annoyance.

"What I'm saying is that Elena no longer has human relatives. Jeremy isn't technically her family because they don't share the same blood anymore. The Gilbert, or Petrova, blood doesn't run through her veins anymore. But other blood does" The witch lifted her eyebrows as to make her point clearer.

Realization hit them all at once. They all had different expressions regarding this breaking news. Stefan was wide-eyed, and mouth gaping; not quite believing what Bonnie had implied. Caroline's face was one of understanding, and a little grin had found its way onto it; if what Bonnie was saying was indeed true, then that meant that she and Elena were actually sisters. Matt's and Tyler's faces were shocked.

"So you're saying that…" Stefan let the sentence trail off.

"We need Damon's blood" Bonnie finished.

_Good luck with that, _Stefan's inner voice mocked.

* * *

**ELENA'S POV**

"Hello, _Elena_…"Although Elena couldn't see his face, she could hear the smirk gracing his tone of voice. She still didn't know who _he_was, but it was so much better having a voice to place on that intimidating silhouette.

"Who are you?" Elena hissed, still pissed by this person's audacity.

"You do not know me Elena, so it's pointless that I tell you who I am." She could still hear the smirk in the man's voice; it was rather chilling. She shuddered inwardly.

"Why do you have me here, restrained? What do you want from me?" she demanded, even though she knew perfectly well that she was in no position to.

"Now, now, Elena, I don't want anything from _you_" this sentence managed to somehow calm her down a little. She had no idea why, though.

"Then why am I here?" she spat at the stranger. It was a bad move, because he appeared not to like it very much. He took a couple steps forward, and then Elena had a face to that psychopath. He was extremely pale –paler even that other vampires she'd known-, and had an oval face, his lips were a little too full, his cheekbones were a little high. His eyes were a dark green -that gave her chills because of their coldness-, his hair was so blond, it almost looked white; he had a trace of stubble on his cheeks, that was the only thing giving color to that much pale face of his. Once he was in full view, he glared at her, hard. _If looks could kill…_

Seeing that he wasn't going to answer his question, Elena exploded.

"Answer me!" she yelled at him; which proved to be another mistake. In a flash, he took his right hand to her left cheek, and slapped her hard; harder than she'd ever been slapped. What the fuck! It actually hurt! It hurt like a bitch! She hissed through clenched teeth because of the pain, and didn't even notice that a single tear had shed from her eye.

"Now, you're in no position to demand anything. I can kill you in a millisecond, if I want to" he threatened her, walking back to his original position, hidden by the shadows.

"And why don't you?" Elena asked, still a little shaken from the force of the slap.

"Because I need you" he simply stated, shrugging. Elena's brow burrowed at this. _Hadn't he said he didn't need her?_

"You just said you didn't need me" the confusion in her voice was apparent.

"No, darling, I said I wanted nothing from you; but I never said I didn't need you" and the smirk came back.

"Very well, then what do you need me for?"

"Let's just say that if everything goes according to my plan, you'll be a part of an exchange of interests" It amazed Elena how even in a crisis like this, she still couldn't help but think that Damon was the only one that could pull on a smirk perfectly. How the hell was she ever gonna get over him if she kept thinking like this.

"Exchange with whom? And for what?" she did not like where this was going.

"Your little lovers have something that I want" he took retreating steps until he was standing by what she assumed was the door. "You'll know all the details on the right time, and when, and if I want you to know them. For now, sweet dreams; I'll come check on you tomorrow." In less than a second, he took something out of his back pocket, and flashed towards her. She didn't even have time to blink before she felt the sharpness of a syringe being plunged into her neck, injecting her with what could be nothing else but vervain. Next thing she knew, her body shut down, due to the poisoning of the verbain.

* * *

**STEFAN'S POV**

Stefan hesitated once he'd reached Damon's room's door. He didn't know how to approach him with this. If this had happened three years ago, he had no doubt that he wouldn't need to tell Damon twice, he was sure Damon wouldn't hesitate before he already had his blood poured down where Bonnie needed it. But things weren't as simple as they were back then. He knew that a lot had changed during those years Damon was gone. For example, it seemed like his brother had stopped caring about anything regarding Elena. Although Damon refused to acknowledge it, Stefan could see in his eyes that he was still deeply hurt by Elena's choice; and he believed that it was the reason Damon was acting so harshly towards the doppelganger. But that also meant that if he was still hurting, then there was a part, deep down inside of Damon, that still cared enough to feel hurt by something he so claimed he was over. That meant that there was still hope for his brother, hope for Elena. Stefan found solace in this fact. His brother wasn't completely gone, as much as he pretended that he was.

With newfound determination, Stefan knocked once on his brother's door, before entering the neat bedroom. Damon had always been a clean freak, Stefan knew that. He had never spotted even a particle of dust on any surface of his brother's room; even when he wasn't around, he always made sure someone cleaned it. Stefan shook his head to rid of those meaningless thoughts.

"Hello, brother. Need somethin'?" Stefan turned to look at Damon, who was laying on his bed –surprisingly, it wasn't made- , smirk on place, and if the sheet draped over his lower half was any indication, he was on the nude. _That explains the unmade bed…_ Stefan grimaced.

"I need to talk to you" he started.

"The answer is no" Damon's voice was firm and it showed no sign of reluctance.

"You don't-"

"I heard your little conversation with the gang, Steffie. Judgy wasn't exactly low. I would've heard her even from the gate" the smirk on Damon's face was infuriating.

"Then you must understand what you need to do, right?" the younger Salvatore asked.

"I don't _need_ to do anything. Elena is not my concern anymore; she stopped being at the moment she asked _Mutt_ to turn the truck back around. She chose you, thus she's _your _problem" the bitterness was clear in his blue eyes, although he tried to mask it.

"Damon, this isn't the time to be self-centered. It's Elena" Stefan pleaded with him, but even he knew it would be futile.

"And I'm supposed to care because?" the smirk Damon sported was so cold, Stefan shivered.

That was the moment in which Stefan realized he had been wrong about there still being hope for Damon. It was the moment he recognized all the symptoms. Up until three days ago, it wasn't as clear, maybe because it still hadn't happened. But now, it was definitive, and as clear as water. It was the reason that no matter what he said to him, or how hard he tried to convince him to help them, he would never be able to.

Damon was indeed gone.

There was no hope for him, anymore.

He had turned out his emotions.

* * *

**IRINA'S POV**

Irina had left the Salvatore mansion about fifteen minutes ago, and was walking around the lame excuse of a town Mystic Falls was. She couldn't believe that she was stuck there until she and Damon got what they came back for.

They had never revealed to anyone what their intention was for coming here. They didn't want anyone to know of the danger that was following them very closely. They had barely made it last time they faced it. It was something even more powerful, and dangerous than herself, than Damon; it was worse than the both of them together; hell, it was possibly worse than the Originals themselves.

She knew who it was that had Elena, but Damon did not. And she intended on keeping it that way. She was aware that if he knew, he would run to her rescue; and she was not going to risk losing him. Not if she could prevent it.

Damon ignored just how dangerous that man could be, and how vindictive. She had feared him for as long as she could remember. He was the only one on this earth that she really feared. She did because of the immense power that man represented, and the danger that lured around him.

She had known him for practically her whole existence –which was a very long one-. In fact she knew him even before she was turned. And that's because he was the one, who turned her.

...

_-FLASHBACK-_

_She didn't remember most of it, but she did remember that one minute she was admiring the flowers in her family's property, and the next she was being carried away. After a little screaming on her behalf, she lost conscious. She could remember that when she finally came to it, she was extremely thirsty, and her throat was so sore it brought tears to her eyes. Her body ached all over, and she'd wanted nothing but to stretch it so she could relieve some of the soreness, but found herself unable to do so. Her wrists and her ankles were tightly bound to a hard surface by very thick chains. She'd frowned upon seeing this, she didn't, for the life of her, understand how she'd gotten in that position. She'd just been spending the warm day at the fields, admiring the beauty of the flowers that grew there. How was it she was suddenly in a dark cave and chained up?_

_A little while later, a man she had never seen before, walked over to her, brining another person behind him. It was a strawberry blond girl, who couldn't be older than thirteen years old; her eyes were wide in fear, and pain. Irina wanted to help her; she wanted to get her as far away from this monster as possible, and as soon as possible. However, all those whishes disappeared from her mind when her nose made contact with a heavenly smell. It was the most mouthwatering smell she had ever smelled before, but she still didn't know what it was though. The smell caused an agonizing ache in her throat, and her upper gum was throbbing, pulsating uncomfortably. The burning in her throat became so much, she couldn't focus in anything else besides it. She didn't know what was happening; the only thing she knew was that she had to taste heavenly thing._

_She recoiled when she realized that the smell was coming from the bleeding neck of the child she had before her –because she was a child!-. Irina tried to focus on something else that wasn't that sudden mouthwatering smell of the blood. How could that have happened? She did not know. She had always been disgusted by the smell of blood, and now out of the blue, she was craving to taste it? She took small breaths to try and calm the throbbing of her gums, and throat, but it had the opposite effect. The need to taste it became even more unbearable. She would give anything she had –which wasn't much- for just a little lap at it._

_The man, of whom she could only see his eyes, brought the girl's neck closer to Irina's mouth, until she could feel the warmth coming off of it. It only served to make her need stronger. With one last push from the green eyed man, the bleeding neck of the child was at her mouth, and she didn't hesitate opening her mouth to catch a little taste of her life fluid. The little taste was not so little, though. The stranger, pushed the girl's neck harder into her mouth, and she couldn't stop drinking that delicious liquid. It was even better than water._

"_Come on girl, suck her dry" the deep voice of the stranger encouraged her; and soon enough, she did. She had drunk the blood of the girl until there was nothing left in her. She knew she should have been disgusted by what had just done, but she couldn't find it in herself to even care. It was like she couldn't feel anything anymore. It was actually peaceful._

_But suddenly, that peacefulness stopped and she felt a piercing pain in her upper gums. It felt as though a thousand needles were piercing through them, all at the same time. She screamed; god did she scream. But as soon as it came, it was gone, leaving no traces of ever having happened. She felt the contours of her eyes pulsating. She could bet that she'd seen the traces of something black around her eyes, with her peripheral vision._

_When she composed herself, she turned to look at the man who was still in the shadows watching her like a hawk. She could only see his eyes, and his sinister smile –it was terrifying, if she said so-._

"_Who are you?" her fearful voice resonated in the walls of the cave. His smirk faltered a little, before widening beyond what she thought was possible._

"_My name is Alexander. And I'm your worst nightmare"_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

_..._

Although blurry, in her mind it seemed like it had happened yesterday, and not 850 years prior.

Her thoughts stopped when she arrived at her destination; an abandoned warehouse, in the outskirts of town. The only one, might she add.

She focused her hearing to try and listen if there was someone in there, but the only sound she could hear was the faint, slow heartbeat of a vampire. She recognized it right away as Elena's. She listened harder, but she couldn't hear anything else. She breathed a sight of relief, and then she flashed into the warehouse.

She found the space Elena was in, in less than a second, and when she did, she had to smirk at what she found. Elena was bound by wrists and ankles, to a metal bed –a similar situation she found herself in when she woke up in transition-. Her skin had burns all over it –obviously from the exposition to the sun, she thought when she couldn't locate her sunlight protection-, that hadn't quite healed, obviously by the effect of verbain. She could smell it in the air she breathed. The air was filled with it. Elena was still unconscious, and it was a good thing, she decided as she started to back away from her, and make her way to the exit.

She flew out of the warehouse, and climbed a tree nearly by. From there, she could see the form of the man she feared most, making his way right in.

As soon as he was out of sight, she climbed down from the tree and sped in the direction of the boarding house.

* * *

_Elena was still laying on that metal bed, when she finally opened her eyes. Her eyelids were extremely heavy, but with a great effort, she got them to open. Although she was still very weak, she tried to fight the constriction of the restrains attached to her wrists and ankles. She kept fighting a losing battle, unwilling to give up. Giving up meant she was giving it. And she wasn't. She was a fighter._

"_It's useless that you try to break them. They could hold down even an Original" the amused voice of her captor came, as always, from the shadows._

"_You are what is useless! You're a useless piece of shit! A fucking waste of space! You fucker, I demand that you set me free! Right now!" all those insults didn't set in fine for the stranger, because in a second, he was standing by her side, holding a stake over her chest, just above her heart. Ready to plunge it in._

"_No, Elena. _You_ are the waste of space, so I'm gonna fix that. I told you I could kill you in a second if I wanted to. And you know what? I do!" with that, he shoved the stake right in her chest, plunging it in her heart._

"_DAMON!" those were the last words Elena Gilbert ever said on this earth, before everything became black, and she became a part of that darkness._

"ELENA!" Damon shot up on his bed, screaming her name at the top of his lungs. He looked frantically around him, trying to spot the veiny, ashen body of the girl he loved. When he found nothing, he collapsed back onto his feather pillow. God! It had been a dream! But what a vivid dream it was! He reached out his arms to Irina's side, but as always, in the nights, he found it empty.

_It was a dream…_

_It was a dream…_

_It was a dream…_

_Or was it?_

* * *

It was almost three thirty in the morning when Bonnie was shot awake by the incessant banging on her door. At first she ignored it, and tried to go back to sleep. But, however, the banging continued, until she grew so annoyed by it she had no other choice than to go answer it.

Thank god, her dad was out of town. _When isn't he?_ A bitter voice said in her head, but she shook it, and focused on getting to the door, so she could tear apart whoever it was that awoke her from such a beautiful dream.

She opened the door, ready for the kill, but the words died in her throat upon seeing who was at her doorstep at three thirty AM.

"Damon?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'll do it. Whatever it is you need me to do to get Elena back, I'll do it…"


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

**General POV**

Irina arrived to the Boarding House around 4 AM, heels in hand, and beyond drunk. After leaving the warehouse, she had every intention of going to Damon's but had, in the end, chosen otherwise. Instead, she found herself in a very crowded bar in Richmond. This was her environment: the city. And not a hell-hole town like Mystic Falls. She had never liked them; they were boring and had nothing to offer. And not to mention that everybody knew everybody, so her kills were a little more limited.

Before Damon, she would've picked a gorgeous guy, and perhaps a beautiful lady, and taken them home. She would've had a long night, filled with pleasure, and a blood fest; and then, in the morning, she would kill them with absolutely no remorse. But, that was then, and this was now. She sighed.

She didn't know what to expect when she'd return home. Maybe Damon getting mad, for once again bailing on him, and taking off to do who knows what, with God knows who. Or even the little gang, sitting in the parlor, still debating ways to get back their precious Elena. Only god knew what she'd find in the boarding house. But what she'd never expected was exactly what she had found.

A note. A note addressed to her, might she add. From who, she'd soon find out. With shaky hands, she opened the envelope, and retrieved the contents. Her blurry sight, quickly focused when she read the first words.

...

_My dearest Irina:_

_853 years have passed since you and I have seen one another._

_You may think that you've gotten away from me, and that you can escape from my hold over you. But you and I are very aware that you cannot. You and I know, you didn't get free from me on that eventful night in 1159. For centuries, you've lived your life as if you were safe from me; but it was because I let you, not because you actually were. All this time I've known exactly where you've been; and whom you've been with._

_But after the events occurred in the last decade, I think it's time you and I reunite. Do you not?_

_I know you know where I'm staying. I caught your scent when I arrived. And I felt your presence in the tree just outside._

_I want you to meet me there. 6 AM. Sharp. Oh, and make sure you bring the stake, your lover took the day Alaric Saltzman was killed._

_P.S. This is not a request. You had better show up. If you do not, I'll have to pay your precious Damon a visit. And it will not be a pleasant one._

_**Forever, and ever, your maker,**_

_**Alexander.**_

_..._

Even in the paper, Irina could feel the menace Alexander meant. The threat implied by his last words. She could do nothing but stare at the offensive piece of paper, weighing her options.

Could she make it out of town, before he came and found her?

If she did, where would she go?

What would Alexander do? Would he follow through with his threat?

Would Damon get hurt?

Could she leave without him?

All these questions were running through her mind right at the moment. She felt hopeless, not quite sure what to do anymore.

If, and that was a big _if_, she was able to get the hell out of there, then there was a big chance that would be the last time she'd ever see Damon. But if she stayed, she wasn't sure if she'd live to see another day. She, more than anyone, knew what Alexander was capable of.

She grew more and more anxious as time ticked by. Two hours. It was how long she had left, to decide what her next course of action would be. She could only hope it would be enough.

* * *

Damon was sitting on the big couch in Bonnie's house, and although it was the first time he had been in her home, he wasn't exactly in the mood to do a look over. There were more pressing matters on his shoulders. Like why the _fuck_ the spell didn't seem to be working.

Bonnie snorted exasperatedly, seeing as the result of the spell was only flames. She extended her hand for Damon's, and he immediately gave it to her.

He didn't even wince as the witch used the knife to cut through his palm, drawing blood into the big goblet she had before her, on the floor. When she had all the blood she needed, she released his hand, put hers together in front of her, and the chanting began once again.

The immediate result was the combustion of his blood into big flames that lit up the entire room. He had hope that this time it might work. But any resemblance of tiny hope he had, dissipated as soon as Bonnie shook her head, the exasperation once again plastered on her face.

"Why isn't it working? This is supposed to work!" Bonnie threw her arms in the air, and abruptly snapped shut the grimoire sitting on her crossed legs.

"Then perhaps, you should do a better research, before going around, giving us hope!2 Damon knew snapping would help absolutely no one, but he couldn't help it. It was Elena. _His _Elena.

"You know, you can stop being an ass. It's not helping matters" The witch spat back.

"Well, you're not exactly being helpful either." Damon threw, standing on his feet. He snapped the grimoire off of Bonnie's hands, and made his way to the exit.

"Hey, where're you going?" Bonnie stood, too, looking bewildered. "Gimme back my grimoire!" she extended her hand expectantly.

"If you can't do shit…" he turned to look at her. A condescending-yet-angry look upon his face. "_I'll _find someone who will." The next instant he was gone.

Bonnie could only stand there, dumfounded. Cursing the flown-off vampire.

* * *

Around half an hour later, Irina heard the front door being shut closed, and immediately knew it was Damon. _He's finally decided tocome home…_ she thought sarcastically. But knew she was being hypocritical, given that she had fled off a couple times herself.

In an instant, he was in the room. He threw down the book he had with him at the entrance, and started unbuttoning his shirt. Although it was dark, she could see the wary and exhausted look in his face.

"Tough day?" even though her voice was hard, he could catch the caring beneath it.

"Tough week" he responded dejectedly, buttoning off his pants, and throwing them to the neat pile of laundry by the corner of his room.

"Wanna talk about what's bothering you?" she propositioned, making her way into the bathroom along with him.

Damon turned on the hot water, and shed off his boxers, leaving him in all his naked glory. He shook his head as he entered the shower, letting the warmth of the water wash away the tension on his back.

"Nothing is bothering me" he answered and had she not had vampire hearing, she wouldn't have been able to catch up on his answer.

Irina found it rather weird that that had been the longest conversation they had had since they came back to Mystic Falls.

Shaking her head in disbelief, she quickly shed off her own clothes, and threw herself in the shower.

"You seem to be forgetting that before you significant other, I'm your friend" she massaged his back, encouraging him to talk. "Talk to me, Damon. It hurts how apart we've come since we set feet in this town."

His shoulders were shaking, indicating his bottling up emotions were about to burst away.

"Leave it, Irina. Let's not start something that might be the beginning of the end" he warned her. He didn't want to talk about what was bothering him, because he was afraid that as soon as he did, their already so fragile relationship would come crashing down.

Irina gasped at the harshness in his voice. It wasn't as if it was the first time he'd used his harsh voice with her, but the meaning of his words were what hurt the most.

She didn't need him to tell him what the matter was, because it had all been revealed by the gang of humans, vampires and hybrids earlier on. But she wanted to hear him say it. She wanted him to be honest with her. They couldn't keep building their relationship over lies of omission, like they had been doing for so long. She didn't fear their relationship would be destroyed by the lies, but because of what it all meant.

If they could so easily lie to each other then, would their union ever be _real_? She didn't think so. But she was also afraid of losing him. He had been the only constant in her life for the past three years. Hell, he had been the only constant in her whole fucking life. She didn't want to let him go. But she would, if needed be.

"Stop it, Damon! Stop pretending everything is fine. Every-fucking-thing is _not _fine! Far from it actually!" the Russian spat, unable to contain it within anymore.

"Irina, stop! I do not need this at the moment! There are more pressing things at the moment!" Damon fired back, turning around and pinning her to the wall with his forearm on her wet chest.

"Like your precious _Elena?!_ Don't go around thinking I didn't see how really worried you actually were, when those morons broke the news to you. And the guilt! You might think you're good at masking your emotions. But if there's something I learned in my long life on earth is to do it _better. _You think you can hide things from me, but you're wrong. I can read you like an open book! So don't ever think for one moment you can fool me!" Irina easily overpowered his grip on her.

"_Guilt_?I don't do guilt, Irina. But you knew that already. It's such a human thing, and we're not human!"

"But you wished you were" it wasn't a question, but a statement. She realized what he was doing. He was spinning the whole situation around. "Don't change the topic on me, Salvatore"

Damon's frustration finally broke down.

"You think this is easy for me?! It wasn't supposed to be like this! It was supposed to be easy. Come here, get that damned stake and then get the hell away from here, as soon as we had it! Elena wasn't supposed to be put in danger! She wasn't supposed to suffer anymore. That was the only reason I left town in the first place! So she and Stefan could be happy! But then we come here, and they're not even together! ALL THE PAIN WAS FOR NOTHING! MINE! ELENA'S! STEFAN'S! AND EVEN YOURS! I HATE THAT MY DOUBT IS SLOWLY KILLING YOU, AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE HURT FROM ANYTHING TO DO WITH ME! I SWORE I WOULD NEVER HURT YOU!"

"So that's what's really bothering you, isn't it? The fact that Stefan and Elena aren't together, and yet you can't be with her, because you feel like you owe it to me? Not to go back to her!"

"I don't want to _be_ with Elena!"

"You can feed all that bullshit to all of your pathetic little friends, but not me! I told you, you can't lie to me!" Irina yelled, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation.

"I'm not lying. If I say I don't wanna be with her, then I don't want to fucking be with her!" Damon stressed out.

"Wanna try that again?" she smirked.

"What's the matter with you?" he said through clenched teeth. "Shouldn't you be glad that I don't care about, Elena anymore? That has always been your biggest fear since you confessed you loved me. That I might still love Elena, that I might not be over her as I said I was!"

"You don't care about her, huh?" the smirked was kept in place on Irina's face.

"No, I don't" Damon lied.

"Then, you wouldn't want to know where she is, would you?" she had the satisfaction of watching his body tense, and the color leave his face. In a second, he had her pinned to the wall once again. All his strength on the arm holding her against the tiles.

"What the hell do you know?!" he demanded, spitting the question on her face.

"You should know that I know everything, Damon. Going to the witch was a mistake. She can't help you" Irina muttered.

"And you can?" Damon's face was scrunched up in disgust. He couldn't believe Irina had known all along were Elena was, and she hadn't bothered to share it with him. In truth he was hurt. But he would never admit it out loud.

"Yes, I can. And I will" she finally broke free from his constriction, getting out of the shower. She dried off, and walked into the bedroom. Damon shook his head and followed.

"Why would you want to help me find the person you see as your rival?"

"I won't help you _find _her. I already have. I will, however, help you bring her back"

"But why?"

"I'm not doing it for _her_. I'm doing it for myself."

"What do you mean? What do you get out of it?"

"My revenge. Her captor is the one who turned me."

Damon's mouth opened a bit, but he closed it as soon as he realized it had. He felt torn. On one hand there was Elena, and the possibility of saving her. But on the other, there was Irina, and there danger it might mean to her by saving Elena. What if they were able to get the doppelganger back, but Irina died in the process? And what if they didn't go find her and Elena got killed?

"How do we do this?"


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER 11**

It was almost the time Irina had to meet her maker. It was 5:53 AM, and she stood in front of the building housing the old vampire, and her rival. To say she was scared would be putting it too slightly. She was petrified with dread. Why was she there again?

Oh yeah, because it was her chance to get even. As she had told Damon, she wasn't doing that for Elena. Hell, she wasn't even doing it for Damon. But for herself.

She'd been waiting for that day for so long, had been planning her attack for centuries. Ever since that horrible day of 1738. The night Alexander killed all her dreams.

At that time, she had the nagging feeling she was being followed, but she paid it no attention. She was just coming home after a haunting trip that lasted all night; and she was dragging a reluctant girl with her, for Nikolay to feed on. She'd recently turned him. Believing he was the love of her life. It couldn't have been more than two days since the transition had taken place, and she still hadn't gotten a daylight ring for him, but she'd say she would soon. She had compelled the girl not to scream, no matter what happened.

As soon as she'd entered the door, she'd known something was very wrong, if the eerie silence in the house was any indication. She compelled the girl to sit on the sofa in the parlor, and went upstairs to their room to look for Nikolay. What she found that day had haunted her for the centuries to come. There he was, Nikolay. Lying lifelessly on their big bed. The bed clothes were soaked in blood. His eyes weren't where they were supposed to be, in his eyes socks. But on the floor next to the bed. His tongue that had brought her so much pleasure, had been cut off of his mouth and had been thrown to the other side of the room. His heart rested beside him. It looked like it had been squeezed of all its blood.

She'd gasped in horror and took a few reluctant steps to the man she used to love. What shocked her the most was the message that had been left for her. It wasn't a normal note by any means. It hadn't been written with ink and on paper. But with his own blood, and on his naked body. She could still recite the exact words he'd left her.

"I will always be the only man to have you completely…

We'll see each other soon, again.

-Alexander"

That day, she'd sworn she'd have her vengeance. She'd vowed it to herself. And she was going to, today.

She had brought what was asked of her, the original stake. But it had had some little changes, courtesy of the young Bennett witch.

At exactly 6 in the morning, she felt the hiss of the air around her, and felt the presence of a figure standing behind her. Slowly, she turned around, and came face to face with her worst nightmare.

"Zdravstvuyte**, Irina" the greeting in both their native language sent chills down her body, and not exactly the good ones that Damon was capable of giving her.

"Alexander"

"Do you have what I want?" he spat, leaving the nice act aside.

"I do"

"Well, give it to me!" he extended his hand, and the expression on his face made it clear he wasn't asking.

Reluctantly, and with her glove clad hands, she took the stake from her back pocket, and hesitantly extended it. But just as he was about to take it, she retrieved it.

"First, you'll give me the girl"

It seemed Alexander wasn't in the mood for any nonsense. He snatched it away from her, and twisted around in his hands.

"It is really beautiful" he exclaimed in awe.

Irina frowned. Why isn't it working? She thought. It was supposed to be making its job. It was supposed to take him down, but he wasn't. He was standing right before her, as menacing as she ever remembered him to be. His mere presence was imposing, and it inflicted instant fear to those around him. She was no different.

"Dorogáya**" the endearment in Russian was no less frightening than the greeting. But she was an expert at concealing her fear.

"You have what you wanted, now give me the girl"

In a flash, Alexander closed the distance between them. He brought up his right hand, and used his thumb and index finger to trace her face. The caresses were anything but soothing. They had a perverse feeling to them. It was a sick touch. As sick as the man himself. But she had to ask herself if she could expect something else from the man that had taken her virtue by force, and with no remorse, or compassion altogether.

That one was the other reason she was pining after her vengeance. He had taken everything from her, and hadn't had the slightest of remorse about it. Now it was time she took everything from him, too.

But the plan they had created in the last hour had failed, or so it seemed. Because he didn't seem affected, at all.

When her thumb reached her lips, she wanted to throw up. He caught her lower lip between his fingers, and tugged on it.

"Now, now, my love. You're in no position to demand anything from me" he whispered in her ear.

"You gave me your word" she spat, not wanting him to know how frightened by him she really was.

"You should know by now not to trust my word, love"

"I thought you were a man of honor"

"I am not. I am a despicable man. But you knew that already, did you not?" his Russian accent was even thicker than her own.

"Yes, I did!" as she said that, she snatched the stake from his free hand. He was so astounded that he didn't have time to react before the stake was already being shoved in his chest, driven through his heart. Thick veins appeared in his face and throughout his entire body, his alabaster skin turned gray, and his wicked, green eyes turned gray as well, losing all the mischief that had always been there.

His body fell to the floor with a thump, and she felt a sickening satisfaction because she had finally dealt with the man she hated most.

Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Damon came to a halt as soon as he spotted Elena's ashen body. He panicked when he realized she looked lifeless. No, this cannot be happening. We were too late, were his thoughts. He shook his head, and decided it was not the time to mourn, or to feel guilt. He had to get Elena the fuck out of there, before the Alexander guy returned.

And although his mind was now focused on Elena, he also found himself thinking about his blond partner. Was she still alive? Had she gotten hurt? Had she taken care of Alexander? Or the other way around? He chose not to think about that, either. If he wanted to get them all out of there, he needed to be really focused on his target: getting Elena.

He made his way to the metal table, and saw her wrists, and ankles were bound by steel binds, and of his smell sense didn't fail him –which it didn't- they were soaked in vervain.

Not caring about the agonizing burn they caused in his hands, he broke them open. First the ones in her ankles, and then the ones of her wrists. His hands were red because of the burning of the vervain, but he didn't care. His only care right there was freeing Elena and taking her home.

With Elena firmly tucked in his arms, he made a run to the entrance.

There, he found an euphoric-looking Irina, and next to her, he found the most satisficing sight ever. The dead-ish body of Elena's captor, and Irina's torturer.

Damon looked up at Irina, and found a real smile gracing her lips. She was actually really content. She had finally accomplished what she'd wanted for centuries.

She'd had her revenge.

Damon, Irina, and an unconscious Elena arrived to the boarding house. The sun had already started to rise. Elena's body was resting on his backseat, and Irina was in the passenger seat.

He killed the engine, and he and Irina hopped out of the vehicle. Damon took Elena's unconscious body in his arms and subconsciously took her to his room. He didn't realize he'd done it until she was already on his bed. He walked to the side, and used his thumb to caress sweetly her cheek, just like he'd done on the night he was first invited in her home.

He shook his head, and walked downstairs to the parlor to pour himself a drink. There he found Irina. A somber look graced her face, and she seemed really sad.

He had a feeling, he was not going to like what she was about to say.

"What's the matter?" he pressed the issue, either way.

"I just want to say good-bye" the finality in her voice hit him, hard. He had the vibe he had no say in her choice.

"What do you mean, 'good-bye?" he looked her in the eye, as he demanded.

"It's time for me to move on"

"Move on? Move on from what?" he stressed.

"You" that single word shook him to his very core.

"And why?" his voice changed from caring, to icy cold.

"You know why, Damon" she offered no more explanation.

"You don't have to do this! I told you, you have nothing to worry about! Elena is not a rival to you!"

"She might not be. But your feelings for her are"

"There are no feelings for her. I told you that" he spat.

"Are we really gonna go through this again? You know you can lie to everyone, but me. You love her, Damon. And don't try and sweeten things for me. There's no reason to deny the undeniable." The sad look on her face broke his heart; because he knew she was right. "It's time you are honest. To me, and to her. And most importantly, to yourself." A lone tear made its way down her left cheek. She scoffed. "Believe me, this is not something I want to do. But I need to hear you say it. I just need to hear it from you"

Damon knew he had to be one hundred percent honest with her. She deserved it after what she'd done today. She'd risked her life to help him get Elena back. And although he knew it was selfish, he was glad she did. He could not lose Elena. But he couldn't lose Irina, either.

"I love her, Irina" he stroke he cheeks, wiping away the tracks of her tear. "As much as I wish I didn't, I do. And as much as I hate it, because I know it's hurting you, I can't bring myself to regret it. To regret her." He finally admitted what was in his heart. "She was the highlight of my life. She gave my life a purpose when I needed it more than anything. And as much as I denied it to hurt her, it's been just that, to hurt her." Damon could see the heartbreak in her eyes, and it also broke his along. "But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I do! With all my heart. I'm just not in love with you. But I am with her. I always have been in love with her. I was never able to stop." He kissed away her frown. "But you're not in love with me, either Irina. You're still very much in love with Nikolay, just as you were three centuries ago. You haven't let go. And sometimes it's okay to hold on. You loved him –you love him-. You only thought you were in love with me because I remind you of him." He pulled back, and he saw the acceptance of his words in her beautiful violet eyes. "Someday, you'll find someone that you'll be able to love as much as you loved Nikolay. And when that happens, you'll be happy again. You won't forget him, because you can't forget someone you loved as much as you loved Niko. But you'll learn to live with it. For now, I wish you the best" He gave her a last sweet kiss on the lips and took a step backward.

"Good-bye, Damon. I love you. I will always love you. I hope you get your happiness with the woman you love, too." she offered him a sad smile and took a step back too. "I wish you the best, too, friend. We'll see each other around" with that she vanished from the house. He really hoped he would see her again.

He smiled a sad smile, and looked up when he heard noise coming from his room. Elena was awake.

His sad smile turned into a happy one as he made his way to the woman he loved.

Damon arrived to his room, and saw Elena stirring. Before coming upstairs, he'd gone to the basement and grabbed some blood bags. He also figured his brother had made himself scarce when he heard him and Irina arguing.

Elena opened her eyes, and looked at him with such tenderness it made his heart melt.

He smiled sweet one at her and lied down on the bed beside her. He took her hand in his, and stroke the back with his thumb. She looked at him in awe, and smiled too.

"You saved me" there was so much love in her eyes. Ad he was sure his were reflecting the same thing back at her.

"I don't want to take all the credit. Irina played a big part in the rescue mission, you know" at the mention of his former partner, her eyes turned cold. She tried to retrieve her hand, but Damon wouldn't let her.

"How helpful of her" she said sarcastically. Elena looked around the room, and was surprised when she could not see any of the Russian's stuff. "Where is your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend anymore. And she left town" he smiled at the hope flaring in her eyes.

"Why would she leave town without you? And why did you two break up?" she tried t conceal her curiosity.

"We realized we love other people"

"Really?" the hope could be heard from a mile away, and Damon smiled at her eagerness.

"Yes."

"I love you, Damon" she knew she was being forward, assuming things that were not clear yet. But she didn't care.

"I don't love you, Elena" he confessed.

Elena's face fell, and he felt her withdraw. Her eyes stung –but she would not shed another tear for Damon, her time of weakness was over-, and she realized she had assumed thing too soon. Just because Damon didn't love Irina, it didn't mean he still loved her. He could have fallen in love with other woman. Although she knew it was highly unlikely for him to fall in love so fast. But, hadn't he fallen in love with her in a year span?

He'd been gone for three years. It was a long enough time to fall in love with someone else. But she couldn't deny it hurt more than anything, he'd ever done to her. If he'd waited almost one hundred, and fifty years for Katherine. Why had he forgotten about her so quickly?

Damon knew it'd been a mistake to say what he said. But he's always loved to tease people –especially Elena-, and that hadn't changed.

"I don't love you, 'Lena" Elena felt like the knife being twisted around in her chest, and it left her breathless. But still, she wouldn't cry. She would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he'd hurt her once again. Why is he so cruel? Why does he hate me so much, that he wants to see me so destroyed? What happened to her sweet and caring Damon? She thought sadly.

"Stop it, Damon!" she spat, trying to get out of his bed, and as far away from him as possible.

"I don't love you, Elena. Love isn't _enough_ to describe what I feel for you"


	12. FINAL CHAPTER

**CHAPTER** **12**

**General POV**

"_I don't love you, Elena. Love isn't enough to describe what I feel for you"_

Shock. That's what Elena felt as the words left Damon's mouth. Although deep down in her heart she knew it, she was not expecting him to say it out loud.

Confusion and suspicion followed. _Why was he, all of a sudden, so open about his feelings, when he'd been so closed up about them just yesterday?_

Then came the joy and happiness. Suddenly she didn't care what his motives for being so honest were. She only cared that he was.

Neither one of them knew who made the first move, nor did they care, but in less than a second they were locked in an embrace so passionate, it could have lit the earth on fire, and it would've shone brighter than all the stars in the universe.

Their lips found their way to the others, and it felt like they had finally come home; like they were finally free, having been slaves of their own misery and desire to be with one another for three long years that had felt like 3 millenniums.

Their arms snaked around the other's waist, holding on like their lives depended on it, and after such a long time apart, it felt like they did.

They didn't need to breathe, and that was a relief, because neither one of them felt they could ever break apart, break that amazing kiss, the kiss that was them finally coming home to each other.

Desperately they tugged at their clothes, ripping them from their bodies; bodies that needed to be bared to the other's eyes. Soon they were both standing naked in that dark room, only the moon lightening the darkness, casting shadows in the corners and making the atmosphere feel much homier, like Damon and Elena felt right that moment.

Even though it was dark, Damon could still see every beautiful inch of Elena's soft naked body, every curve of her anatomy.

The same was for Elena; she could appreciate _all _of Damon's body, every hard inch (no pun intended). The hardness of his amazing abdomen, which seemed to have been carved by God himself; his strong, beautifully defined arms; the light dusting shadows beneath them; his powerful legs, legs shadowed by some seriously sexy hair that made him look even more virile. Finally her eyes landed on his beautiful, and very hard, penis.

Her mouth watered just by looking at his amazing body, for it seemed it had been made just to satisfy her deepest, darkest desires. To satisfy _her_, period.

After she was done ogling him neck down, she finally gathered the courage to look at his face, and she gasped at what she saw there.

His hair was a black as the night outside, shining like the stars above; his face that was sculpted by angels had a peaceful smile. _Peace;_ that was exactly what she was feeling. Peace for finally being with the only one person she was ever only supposed to be with. At last, it was the time to look into his eyes, only to get lost in the bluest depth of them.

His eyes were shining with the power of a thousand suns, and as blue as the waters of a French Riviera Sea. She felt like she was literally drowning in that ocean of blue.

Damon smiled at Elena, and Elena smiled at Damon. They were both looking shamelessly at each other's naked body. They felt no nervousness, no inhibitions being bared before the other's eyes. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, like they were born to do just that.

Although physically naked, it was their bared souls that were the most amazing sight. Both their hearts were laid bare open for the other so see. That was how deeply their love was.

Elena made the first move, advancing towards Damon. Love, desire, wickedness, mischief, and pure _lust_ were the main emotions showing in her chocolate eyes. They reflected Damon's perfectly.

Once again, they found themselves engaging into another toe-curling, orgasm-inducting, blissful kiss. They both felt as if they could find the release they craved so much, if they just keep kissing a few more minutes. And they did.

Elena's core tightened deliciously in the blissful release of climax, her toes curling and her eyes rolling back in their sockets. Her knuckles turned white as they held his strong, powerful shoulders. Her orgasm heightened even more as she felt the warm spurts of his release on her stomach.

Damon groaned as if pained, and felt his member jerking once, twice, and then felt the amazing crest of his orgasm course throughout his entire body. After a few good minutes of blissful oblivion, they finally came back to earth. They slowly pulled apart, both spent, but not entirely sated.

Elena was still wet and swollen; and Damon was semi hard. Upon seeing the evidence of their pleasure staining her belly, he regained full hardness. They both looked down at it as it poked Elena's leg, and laughed.

Soon again, they were kissing. Elena wrapped her legs around him, her arms, too.

Damon held her, one arm around the little of her back, the other on her butt, pressing her harder against him.

In the midst of their passionate kisses and needy caresses, their bodies finally connected.

Damon filled Elena, not only physically, but emotionally, too. She had never felt more complete, more loved, more _woman_. She was finally with the man she'd loved for such a long time, feeling all the love he felt for her, his need to be with her. His passion.

After a century and a half, Damon was completely happy for once. The woman he loved finally loved him back. She was greedy for him; craved him as much as he craved her. He finally felt loved, felt like all his years of roaming the earth all on his own were worth it. His loneliness had finally been rewarded. In that moment he knew. He knew that he'd happily go through all he'd been through in his life; disappointment from his father, death, heartbreak over Katherine, hatred for and from Stefan, loneliness, being in love with a forbidden woman, heartbreak over Elena…

He'd go through it all, all over again if it meant being with Elena like this. Having her in his arms, loving her, and being loved by her. And it'd be worth it.

He kept thrusting into her, pouring his love into each and every thrust.

Elena pushed back against his thrusts, also willing him to feel her love. Wanting him to sink into it, just the way he was sinking into her body.

They looked into each other's eyes, and felt the pleasure raising. Damon's thrusts weren't so rhythmic anymore; they were erratic and frenetic, rushing to get them to their releases.

As Elena neared her orgasm, she did something she'd wanted to do for a very long time. With both hands, she gripped his nape, tilting his neck towards her open mouth, her fangs elongated, her eyes were red, and showing the purest passion there was on earth. With a big smile on her face, she bit into his warm throat. Drinking the tastiest blood she had ever come across. The thick liquid was like honey, good wine, chocolate, raspberries, and sex; all mixed in one.

Damon moaned se she felt her drinking from him. And it wasn't long before his own fanged mouth found its way to her neck. Drinking her blood and consuming her soul.

It was the most erotic act they had ever engaged in.

Now, there were _no barriers_ between them. In that moment Elena owned Damon just as completely as Damon owned her.

Their releases came violently at them, shaking the very foundations of their souls, shaking their entire beings. Never before had they felt so much pleasure and ownership over another being.

They were one now. And nothing could _ever_ change that.

* * *

Damon laid on his four-posted bed, Elena laying her head above his heart, listening to it beating like a teenager's on their first date with their first crush. Her arm resting on his hard muscled stomach, her hand drawing little patterns on the tight skin stretched over pure muscle, feeling it twitch beneath her touch.

His own hand was drawing circles on her lower back. They were enjoying just being with one another. They were happy. Happily sated sexually.

"That was… WOW," Elena giggled like a little girl, still tracing his hard abs. A goofy grin spread through Damon's face, and his skin got goose bumps.

"I don't even have words," Damon agreed. He brought her up to his body, and tightened his hold around her. Never wanting to let go; and now he didn't have to. She was his, just as he was hers. Forever.

"I'm so happy you're back," Elena looked up at his face and smiled softly, a secret smile that made Damon's heart flutter.

"I'm happy I'm back, too" He kissed her; but it was nothing like their previous kisses. Those were needy, desperate kisses, shared between to people that had been apart far too long, and felt like they might disappear at any moment if they didn't hold on tightly enough. _This_ kiss was shared between two people that were completely sure of the other's feelings; that were sure of their ownership over one another. _This_ kiss was sweet, tender, _loving_. Not tongues, only lips. But somehow, this one felt far more intimate than any other previous kisses they had shared before. This felt like _love_.

"That was the best moment of my existence," Elena smiled into the kiss, but Damon frowned.

"No, it was not," This made Elena frown as well.

"Of course it was!" She argued.

"Was not!" Damon grinned, winking at her.

"Was too!" Elena scowled.

"Was not. Wanna know why?" he gave her a chaste kiss on her nose.

"Why's that?" Elena was a little annoyed. She _knew_ it had been the best moment of her life.

"We still have plenty of time ahead of us. It may have been the best moment of your life, _so far_, though." This made Elena smile a wide smile. "We have all the time in the world."

"We have forever," Damon smiled the brightest smile Elena had ever seen, and sealed his mouth over hers. They both smiled into the kiss.

"Forever" they both promised into each other's mouth.

And together, they engaged into writing the next 'best moment' chapter in their 'Best Moments of Our Eternity' book.

That book would turn into a series as time passed, and that book series would see A LOT of chapters, written throughout the course of their 'FOREVER'.

* * *

**END!**

**A/N**

**Hello guys! I'm so grateful for having so many of you liking this Little sucker. I know this FF was not the best one there is out there, I'm well aware of that. But it's been pretty special to me nonetheless. **

**I wish I could give all of you that were right there with me, from the very beginning, a big bear hug, to show you how GREATFUL I really am, for having had the chance to share this little piece of me with all of you.**

**I want to especially thank my two great friends, Natalie and Kelsie. They've been constantly asking me when the hell would I actually sit down, and start working on the ending of this story. They were also amazing, as to pre-read this very last chapter, and putting at ease any insecurities I had about it.**

**THANK YOU KELSIE (KelsieLorraine), FOR EDITING THIS FOR ME! Please check out her new story: Russian Roulette (I beta it ;) ), it is beyond amazing! Best story I've read in along time! Please go, you'll LOVE it as much as I do!**

**Nevertheless, I really want to know what you thought of the ending I chose to go for. I know it may've been very cliché and lame, but it was WAY better than the ending I had in mind a few months ago.**

**Not having much to say, but that I really wish to see you all around!**

**xoxo,**

**Alexis Hart Sáenz ;)**


	13. AN!

**A/N!**

**Hello guys! Alexis here!**

**No, this is not an update. I'm writing this Author's Note to let you know, in case you're interested, that my friend (KelsieLorraine) and myself are co-writing a new DE story. It's called "A House On Sand".**

**Here's the summary:**

"Damon's life took a horrible turn after he received a call informing him that his brother, Stefan, was killed. A year had passed and he's dead set on finding his brother's murderer and avenging it, but his life is about to be turned upside down once again, when love is thrown in his path. Will this new obsession interfere in his homicidal urges? AH/AU Delena"

**If you're interested, you can find the link on my profile page.**

**I hope to see you all soon! **

**xoxo,**

**Alexis Sáenz ;)**


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